She was 5 years previous when she tentatively toddled over to the paleontologist to point out her dinner-plate-sized discover. He leaned in with a smile of persistence, assuming it was only a rock. He flipped up his sun shades for a greater look.
The fossil hunt was 20 minutes in and the smallest youngster had picked up a museum-quality fossil. It was the monitor of an Attenosaurus, referred to as a “coal lizard.” These large historical reptiles spanned from 6 to eight toes lengthy and dominated swamps as the biggest land animal earlier than dinosaurs emerged.
“There are not any dinosaurs on the Union Chapel Mine, however these fossils are rarer than dinosaur bones,” stated Carl Sloan, secretary of the Alabama Paleontological Society and chief of the Recent Air Household area journey.
Camden Davis with the museum-quality fossil he discovered. (Verna Gates)
Formally named the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Website, this former strip mine in Walker County has been rated by worldwide specialists as an important Coal Age footprint web site on the planet, based on congressional findings. These findings resulted in saving the Union Chapel Mine from being lined over by the Mining Reclamation Act. The location has produced 1000’s of tracks, some new to science, and the biggest assortment of specimens documenting these animals. It’s the No. 1 web site for vertebrates and essentially the most prolific supply of tracks left behind by the earliest reptiles on Earth. Scientists from across the globe are interested in the positioning for its abundance of fossils and the biodiversity of what was as soon as an historical swamp teeming with terrestrial and aquatic life.
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The fossils are so plentiful {that a} small youngster can decide up a rock and discover a uncommon monitor. A ten-year-old boy discovered a cluster of trilobites. A 12-year-old boy, Camden Davis, made information by unearthing proof of the whole life cycle of an historical seed fern, which went straight to a museum. The best piece was discovered by Cindy Wallace, a mother who was watching her fossil-fanatic son hunt from pile to pile. She appeared on the slab beside her and pulled it up, revealing seven hand-sized prints of the Attenosaurus.
“That is the biggest discover I do know of,” stated Jim Lacefield on the time of the discover. He’s the writer of “Misplaced Worlds in Alabama Rocks.”
Teams from universities and teaching programs, reminiscent of Recent Air Household, take college students and households to the positioning. Faculty area journeys and household weekend adventures supply an opportunity for amateurs to take part in scientific discovery. The Alabama Paleontological Society organizes month-to-month hunts. Everybody retains their fossils except they’re museum-quality, through which case they typically go to the McWane Science Middle in Birmingham or the Alabama Museum of Pure Historical past in Tuscaloosa.
The unique discovery of the positioning was made in 1999 by Ashley Allen, a highschool science trainer in Oneonta. He introduced to his class that he want to take them on a fossil area journey to a coal mine. A pupil raised his hand to supply a mine owned by his grandmother. When Allen scouted the positioning, he discovered the tracks resembling a tiny truck, which turned out to be uncommon arthropod tracks.
The Union Chapel Mine was a strip mine, the place equipment pulled out layers of coal. Based mostly on nationwide regulation, it was on account of be reclaimed, which might have lined up the fossil report. Allen and Steven Minkin led the cost to save lots of the positioning. It actually took an act of Congress. Now owned by the state of Alabama, the positioning requires written permission to discover.
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Faculty college students look at fossil specimens on the Minkin Website in Walker County, on the previous Union Chapel Mine land, in 2016. (Jim Lacefield)
The traditional swamp forest would have appeared a lot totally different from at this time’s swamps. The timber have been extra like tall ferns, with inexperienced scales for bark and leaves on the high. Some rose to 150 toes and have been extinct by the point dinosaurs got here searching for vegetation. Lovely fern fossils are the simplest finds within the rock piles on the former mine. With low oxygen and excessive acidity, the traditional waters didn’t break down the plant materials, leaving finely chiseled remnants of delicate leaves.
Whereas the massive amphibians supply the showiest fossils, the positioning is known for its fish, particularly the horseshoe crab. Union Chapel Mine incorporates the one report of the life cycle within the time interval of the prehistoric crab.
Whereas tracks don’t reveal what entire our bodies appeared like, they will reveal measurement and habits. The fossils inform us whether or not the creatures congregated or lived solitary lives. What did they do after they met different creatures? Or have been they avoiding one thing that may eat them?
Whereas students debate the lives of creatures from way back, fossil hunters can benefit from the ease of the hunt. Actually, nearly each rock captures a footprint or a plant. Affected person folks can kind via piles of rock to search out treasures. Others cut up rocks to see what may be hidden inside. No matter is discovered is a glimpse into an historical world.
This story initially was printed on the SoulGrown web site.
North Alabama Lions (10-6, 2-1 ASUN) at Stetson Hatters (4-12, 2-1 ASUN)
DeLand, Florida; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: North Alabama visits Stetson after Jacari Lane scored 22 points in North Alabama’s 75-70 loss to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.
The Hatters have gone 3-3 at home. Stetson has a 0-2 record in one-possession games.
The Lions have gone 2-1 against ASUN opponents. North Alabama has a 0-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
Stetson’s average of 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season is only 0.2 fewer made shots on average than the 8.3 per game North Alabama allows. North Alabama has shot at a 45.7% rate from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points greater than the 44.8% shooting opponents of Stetson have averaged.
The Hatters and Lions square off Saturday for the first time in ASUN play this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Mehki is averaging 15.8 points for the Hatters.
Corneilous Williams is averaging 9.8 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Lions.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hatters: 3-7, averaging 74.5 points, 30.5 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 6.2 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 82.0 points per game.
Lions: 6-4, averaging 76.3 points, 34.6 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 7.3 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.2 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey said student’s mental health, and cell phone use are at the top of his priorities this year.
“We certainly have a mental health crisis in families,” he said. “And particularly in youth in this country, and we want to make sure we’re addressing that.”
That crisis, Dr. Mackey said, is fueled by cell phone use and social media. He said this is a concern that he will be very vocal about in the upcoming legislative session.
“It’s really limiting social media. But, the only way we can get social media away from students during the school day is to limit the access to cell phones or smartphones,” Dr. Mackey said.
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Rep. Mary Moore (D-Birmingham) said it’s not just about cell phone use in schools. She wants to see a better pay frequency for educators, and recruiting in this session.
“Some of the problems that we have is recruiting the type of; not only educators, but child nutrition workers, custodians, bus drivers, and people that can be committed to the system,” she remarked. “If the system was committed to them.”
Rep. Susan DuBose (R-Hoover) said cell phones should be put away from bell to bell. She said she wants to put more money towards the school choice program.
“We probably, with our current budget of $100 million allocated to school choice, only have room for up to 16,000 students,” said DuBose. She said over 11,000 students have applied to the program so far. “So, in less than a week, we’ve almost already utilized our full budget allocation.”
Besides cell phone use, Dr. Mackey said the board wants to see reading and math scores continue to go up. And, he said extended learning programs like after school and summer school will be key in 2025.
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“Those times that we have children outside of the regular school day, how are we using that time to make sure that we are promoting learning?” said Dr. Mackey. “But also, promoting high quality childhood, keeping those children off the streets, out of trouble, and in very good, engaging programs.”
Dr. Mackey said he doesn’t know what the solution will be to cell phone use in the classroom. Some bills have already been pre-filed for the upcoming session that address the topic.
The 2025 legislative session starts on February 4th.
For anyone thinking of cooking up warm soup to stave off the winter cold, there’s an important recall you need to know about.
Walmart has recalled 12,000 units of Great Value Chicken Broth sold in 48-ounce cartons in two states – Alabama and Arkansas. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the recall is due to the “potential for packaging failures that could compromise the sterility of the product, resulting in spoilage.”
The products have a best if used by date of March 25, 2026 with lot code 98F09234. They were sold in aseptic paper cartons and a total of 2,023 cases or 12,138 cartons were included in the recall.
The broth was produced by Tree House Foods Inc. of British Columbia.
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The FDA did not assign a risk level to the recall and did not report any incidents involving the products.
People with the broth should return it to Walmart for a refund.
