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WyoFile · Casper, WY

A bird in hand remains a mystery in stone

J.P. Cavigelli, a paleontologist at the Tate Geological Museum in Casper, opened a metal locker, pulled out a drawer containing dozens of specimens and retrieved a flat stone embedded with a small, rare-for-Wyoming fossilized bird. “It’s the back end,” said Cavigelli, donning his trademark bandana and bushy, grey beard. “We got the pelvis, one really nice back leg and a not so nice back leg. We don’t know what it is yet.” The fossil, discovered on private property in Laramie County, found its way to the Tate Museum a couple of years ago. The bird — definitely from the Miocene Epoch, according to Cavigelli — remained in the locker, its identity a mystery to be solved. Itching for answers, he attended a conference in New Zealand earlier this year where the topic was fossilized birds, determined to find an expert who might identify the specimen. “We’re talking to a student in Chicago who is probably going to work on it,” Cavigelli said.