When the
bones of an ancient heron were unearthed at a North Florida fossil site, the
find wasn’t made by researchers but by two Florida Museum of Natural History
volunteers.
A
previously unknown genus and species, the heron has been named Taphophoyx
hodgei (TAFF’-oh-foy-ks HAHJ’-ee-eye) in honor of landowner Eddie Hodge,
who has allowed Florida Museum researchers and volunteers to excavate the site
on his property near Williston since his granddaughter first discovered fossils
there in 2015.
Nearly
700 volunteers have worked at the Montbrook fossil
site, collectively digging more than 12,000 hours.
“You
couldn’t have a better group of people,” Hodge said. “There’s a lot of
negativity when we get home and turn on the television, but it does you good to
be out here seeing volunteers get excited and be positive about something.”
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