RE: The (long) future of paleontology

["W. F. Zimmerman, wfzimmerman.com" <wfz@wfzimmerman.com>]

You are absolutely right. I am sure I would make a splendid fossil. ;-)

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu] On Behalf Of
Amtoine Grant
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 2:24 PM
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: The (long) future of paleontology


On Thursday, January 12, 2006, at 03:13  PM, W. F. Zimmerman,
wfzimmerman.com wrote:

> There were some interesting discussions on this list recently about 
> the number of genera discovered in each year and the most abundant 
> fossil genera.
>
> The conversation prompted me to wonder: what is the (long) future for 
> paleontology?   In some ways, it's a zero-sum game with an achievable 
> end point.  After all, all the fossils that ever will be discovered 
> already exist.


Why would you assume fossils aren't being left today? Animals still die in
around bodies of water, landslides & avalanches occur, not to mention
volcanic activity's never ceased. All of these are still entombing creatures
around the world.
world.