Bones of ʻEwa...

Post date: Feb 6, 2020 1:29:48 AM

My Kilo ʻĀina project is on fossil bones found at Kalaeloa Wildlife Refuge which is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service allowed me many opportunities to study new different types of things and also open projects up to future students. I was allowed the opportunity to study different types of fossil bones from birds, fishes, and urchins. The bones included came from legs, arms (wings), feet, spinal column and so forth of many extinct or still living species. My favorite part of this project was seeing all the different size vertebrae! They ranged from super small, to a very large one for a bigger bird. It’s crazy how similar yet so different the anatomy of bird bones are to humans.

I was also lucky to work with the vertebrate curator at Bishop Museum in cataloging the bones. These bones are now gonna be professionally logged, stored and documented and included in the research database of Bishop Museum to be accessed by anybody interested in them. I think this was a huge step to take for this project because I’ve never experienced anything like this. It’s something new I learned and it was very interesting.

- Justin