Texas Memorial Museum invites community to show off their finds

Hundreds descended upon the Texas Memorial Museum to have their curious geological finds identified during the museum’s 19th annual Identification Day.

The event took place Sunday as part of Austin Museum Day for the fourth consecutive year. Visitors were granted free admission as well as the opportunity to present their finds to expert paleontologists and archaeologists for explanation.

“By interacting with the public, it’s a way to encourage awareness of how fossils inform us about things we’re concerned about today,” said Pamela Owen, associate director of the museum. “It helps create a much broader picture of what life was like in the past in Texas.”

Owen, who planned and organized the event, has worked as a curator, educator and associate director at the museum for the past 19 years. She set up several tables around the museum’s Great Hall exhibit on the second floor. At each table, paleontologists with specifically labeled specialties greeted visitors.

“The experts didn’t make the find, but we get a lot of joy in seeing what people bring in,” Owen said. “Most of our visitors on Identification Day are just observant people who see something interesting.”

When the clock struck 1 p.m. Sunday, Owen and her staff initially greeted about 100 visitors waiting outside, some of who said they were excited to learn about their finds.

Tammie Hatley made the two-hour trip from Comanche, Texas, to hear experts weigh in on a large item she believed to be the remains of a pot-bellied seahorse.

“This is my first time bringing something in,” Hatley said while presenting her item to experts at the table designated for sea fossils. “I heard about Identification Day on the internet and did some research on my own.”

Behind the table, paleontologist Jamie Shelton analyzed the rock. After taking a long look, she broke the news to Hatley: Her find was merely a piece of limestone shaped and sized like a seahorse.

According to Shelton, cases of misidentification like this are quite common. She said despite the fact that most discoveries are just deceptively-shaped rocks, it’s important not to let this discourage potential inquiries.

“We are mentally attuned to see imagery of things we know,” Shelton said. “But you won’t get discouraged if you keep an open mind and are willing to learn from observational experiences.”

One man with such experience is Chris Sagebiel, a vertebrate paleontologist and the collections manager at the University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences. Having participated in 16 prior Identification Day events, Sagebiel said he has also seen his fair share of items that did not turn out to be what visitors hoped. Yet, he said he looks forward to interacting with visiting kids and families each year.

“Kids spend so much of their lives around animals, so it’s interesting for them to think that animals used to be so different,” Sagebiel said. “Even if they have something that isn’t the T. rex they thought it was, it’s always their little treasure.”

This community interaction is at the core of what makes planning Identification Day worthwhile for Owen.

“In addition to getting that identification and learning experience, there’s an opportunity to talk to a scientist,” Owen said. “We’re not all the white lab-coat types.”

Owen said that over 900 people passed through the museum Sunday afternoon, and about one-third of them brought in items for identification. Some visitors, especially families who did not bring any items, spent the afternoon exploring the museum’s first and third floor exhibits.

“(Identification Day) is important for public engagement,” Sagebiel said. “It lets people know that (the museum) is public, and we’re here for people to visit, see and share discoveries.”

Owen said that part of her mission is to bring the museum’s collections into the spotlight and raise people’s awareness and appreciation of what they can find in Texas.

“It’s a chance to get people to make a distinct and permanent connection with these (fossils),” Owen said. “Not only are they cool and old, but they’re a true natural treasure that belongs to all of us and it’s important to take care of them.”