CONSOLIDATED PRESS Mott, North Dakota February 2007
A remarkable find by farmhand-turned-paleontologist Bud Mavis is knocking the scientific world on its heels. Until this Spring, Mavis worked for a prominent area farmer. Early in May Bud discovered a large, natural depression in the field where he was seeding.
"I probably passed that hole hundreds of times, but I never really payed it much attention before,"says the former farmhand. "Geology, botany and the natural sciences have always held an interest for me. I am not sure why I did it, but I stopped the tractor, got out and took a closer look at the "crater."'
When his boot struck something large, white and hard that was protruding from the ground, Bud had a closer look. It was a large bone. A cursory examination of the area revealed a treasure trove of large, oddly shaped bones in various stages of natural preservation. That night Bud did extensive internet research on the old computer in his trailer until early in the morning. Bud confirmed his suspicion that he had discovered the remains of "thunder lizards" that shook the earth in prehistoric North Dakota.
"I went back to the bone site on my days off," Says an animated Bud. "I sketched the outline of two complete skeletons of Triceratops and a partial collection of Tyrannosaurus Rex bones in my field notebook. My theory is that dinosaurs buried their dead in large, common pits."
Mr. Mavis fired a volley of letters to "Paleontology Today" magazine, the state museum in Bismarck, the Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. No representative from any of those institutions has come to examine the discovery, whose location remains undisclosed at this time. After several months a curator of the Smithsonian did reply to Bud with a short, encouraging letter. The text of that correspondence appears below.
Bud Mavis holds up a femur bone of a rare type of
dinosaur that once roamed the prairies near Mott, North Dakota. He recovered
this bone from a natural depression discovered while seeding wheat.
Dear Mr. Mavis:
I read your recent letter with much interest and, because of the seeming indifference of other museums, your persistence amazes me. Your sketches and photos are on my desk at this very moment. The other letters you sent over the past months are in a special box beneath my desk. I simply do not have enough room in my file cabinet for all of them. I assure you that I would not dream of discarding them, as I refer to them from time to time when my busy schedule permits. I take the liberty to show your letter and photos to colleagues who stop at my office. Without exception it surprises us to learn that you are a self-educated man, having ceased your formal studies at the local high school at fifteen. With sincerest regret I must inform you that neither myself nor my colleagues are planning to visit your "dig." However, I keep a jar on my windowsill and we have started a collection to buy a bus ticket for you to come and see us. I can see about eight dollars and some change in the jar from where I am sitting. We would all like very much to meet you in person, should the opportunity lend itself.
Meanwhile I urge you, sir, to visit with your former employer as soon as possible. Ask him to consider restoring you to your former position as "Assistant Agricultural Technology Engineer." After considering your delicate situation, I doubt that you have a future in the Paleontology field, at least not on a professional level. When seeking employment with museums and institutions of higher learning, getting your foot in the door can be difficult. Most of the paying positions require someone with an advanced degree from a recognized university and years of field experience. While your diploma from "Bob's Online College" will give your living room a professional appearance, its usefulness will be quite limited among those who spent years studying under experts with names familiar to the scientific community.
As for your fascinating find, most of the bones in your "dinosaur burial site" are not of a quality that scientists and museums would find useful. Decomposition is entirely too advanced to offer new information. Furthermore, the fossilized remains of hundreds of dinosaurs are all "jumbled" together in a way that makes it quite difficult and costly to reassemble them into skeletons again. It is of no surprise to me that most Scientists show little interest in your "dig."
Regarding your theory that dinosaurs brought their dead to this site for burial, I suppose the sheer number of bones in your "crater" seems to add credence to this novel idea. As a "colleague" sir, I urge you to not pursue this line of reasoning, at least not in public. I strongly feel that it would be best not to discuss it with anyone in private, either. Palaeontologists are an odd bunch. They do not like it when other paleontologists discover evidence that shoot holes in their pet theories. If your ideas hit the mainstream and get reported in the media, things could get frightfully ugly.
In closing, thank you for keeping us abreast of your latest findings. If you should find yourself in our neck of the woods, do not hesitate to drop in and see us. Giving us a jingle would be best before you come to be sure that someone is in the office at the time. We are often out in the field, studying old bones and taking notes. It would be a shame to miss you. Keep up the good work and best of luck to you.
Sincerely,
Hollingsworth G. Goodbody
Assistant to the Paleontology Department Head
Smithsonian Museum of Paleontology
Washington, D.C
