Central Chile's rugged Andes mountains preserve some of South America's best mammal fossils. But finding them requires endurance, persistence--and a willingness to climb. view the slideshow
AUSTERE BEAUTY: Even on days our fossil hunting turns up nothing new, we revel in the splendor of landscape all around us--such as this striking view of Antuco volcano from one of our localities in the Lake Laja region..... KATE WONG
ANOTHER VIEW:
Rocky outcrops above the El Pino River in the Lake Laja region also turned out to contain ancient mammal fossils.
KATE WONG
MONKEY SEE: This precipitous site in the Cachapoal River drainage is where we discovered a five-centimeter-long skull of New World monkey we named Chilecebus carrascoensis. Note the person (inside white ellipse) for scale... ANDR? R. WYSS
GETTING THERE: More often than not, fossil sites are far from even the most primitive of roads. Here some of our team is backpacking into a site a site about 100 kilometers north of Tinguiririca , in the drainage basin of the Cachapoal River ... ANDR? R. WYSS
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LOST IN LAJA: Here we are somewhere in Estero Trapa Trapa (nearly Lake Laja) trying to figure out where we are. I (Wyss) consult the GPS while John Flynn (middle) and Darin Croft study the maps... KATE WONG
WALKING TO THE OUTCROP:
Even for areas that we can approach by truck, such as this one near Lake Laja, it is usually a fair hike to the outcrop for a day’s fossil hunting.
KATE WONG
EASIER WAY AROUND: Sometimes we can actually get a pickup truck within a few kilometers of a fossil site. Here are some of our crew members below fossiliferous outcrop we call Cerro Los Pinos near Lake Laja, which is about 300 kilometers south of the Tinguiririca valley... KATE WONG
NO HORSING AROUND: Riding cross-country on horseback is another way we get around central Chile’s rugged terrain. On the day this photograph was taken, we had spent most of a day trying to find a suitable camping spot for exploring a promising locality near the Teno River... PHILIP GANS
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BY HELICOPTER: In the spring of 1994, reconstruction of the small road leading into the Tinguiririca valley was especially slow, but we did not learn of this impediment until arriving on the scene. Turning frustration into an opportunity, we began explorations outside the Tinguiririca valley... REYNALDO CHARRIER
WHEW! Here is team member Franyo Zapatta, a Chilean geology student, having just reached the fossil-bearing outcrop we call Tapado. Some of our best fossils come from this perch—Andy’s Rule strikes again!... ANDR? R. WYSS
TRICKY RIVER CROSSING: We had to ford the raging Tinguiririca River without a bridge to reach the second major cache of mammal fossils we found in the Tinguiririca Valley. This photograph yet again encapsulates “Andy’s Rule,” which says that the harder an outcrop is to reach, the likelier it is to contain fossils... ANDR? R. WYSS
PRECIPITOUS SLOPES: This view--due east, with the skyline marking the border with Argentina--leaves no doubt about the incline of the slopes flanking the Tinguriririca River. For a sense of scale, look closely for our team’s cluster of half a dozen camping tents (inside the white circle), near the edge of the purplish-brown, fossil-bearing rocks... ANDR? R. WYSS
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FOSSIL DISCOVERY TREK yellow line: After several hours of trudging up the steep southern slopes of the Tinguiririca valley near Termas del Flaco (which is visible in the valley floor), the two of us reached the highest ridge in the late afternoon... ANDR? R. WYSS
THE BEGINNING: Our first fossil reconnaissance trip to central Chile culminated here at the summer resort village of Termas del Flaco. On the last day of that expedition, we split up to prospect the precipitous slopes flanking each side of the Tinguriririca River, which flows briskly along the southern edge of the town’s hot spring pools... ANDR? R. WYSS
LOOKING UP:
Rocks exposed above central Chile’s Lake Teno contain fossil mammals buried in mudflows from one of this volcano’s ancient predecessors.
