A casual outing at Badlands National Park in South Dakota became a great scientific discovery for a whole family, when a little girl found a valuable fossil in the rocks. The object, which initially seemed very unusual, after its careful study by specialists, turned out to be the skull of an ancient saber-toothed predator – nimravid.
It all happened during the visit in May 2010 within the framework of the Junior Paleontologist program at the national park. According to the report of the US National Park Service, 7-year-old Kylie Ferguson noticed the fossil and informed the park staff about her find without trying to remove it herself. Scientists stated that the fossilized skull belonged to an extremely rare predator of the past. The news aroused interest due to the fact that the discovery involved not just a happy chance of children but also real scientific work.
