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like underground menageries and not just holes in the ground. Some of these com-
mensal animals include burrowing insects and mice, which readily punch through
burrow walls to add their own homes, like adding extra rooms to a house. The day
before, I'd said to Dave, “If this is a burrow, it should have commensal burrows,
too,” followed by an explanation of what little I knew then about gopher tortoise
burrows and their cohabitants.
Using the stark textural and color contrasts between the sandstone and mud-
stone as our guide, we chipped away at the mudstone around the sandstone, feeling
likesculptorscollaboratingonanexpressionofourinnervisions.Inthatvein,asthe
fuller form of the structure began to emerge from the mudstone, Dave stopped and
with a nervous laugh asked, “Are we sure we're not just making this up?” It was
a good self-doubting question to ask. Ichnologists have heard variations of this in-
quiry for years, often posed by people (including other paleontologists) who know
absolutely nothing about ichnology. Yet it is stated confidently because, after all,
their skeptical ignorance trumps our expertise. Still, ichnologists are also self-ef-
facing enough to acknowledge the possibility that a supposed “trace fossil” might
later turn out to be a random inorganic structure, blemish, break in a rock, or other
such oddity that has nothing to do with traces of life.
With this possibility in mind, Dave and I sat back and reassessed the situation.
After some back-and-forth deliberation, we soon agreed that the differences in
sediment between the sandstone and mudstone were too sharp, too distinct to be
something we were imagining. Reality checks are good, as is documentation. As a
Russian saying goes, “Trust, but verify.” We got back to work.
With the removal of each piece of mudstone, the structure became better
defined and took shape. Once done with our handiwork, we stood up and then
walkedaroundittogainafullerperspective.Itwasacuriousobject.Forstarters,the
horizontal segment joined with a gently inclined one above, and another inclined
one below, making it just more than 2 m (6.7 ft) long. The last segment joined with
the enlarged part of the sandstone where the dinosaur had been. Sure enough, just
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