October 16 was National Fossil Day.  Of course, at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, every day is Fossil Day.

Still, Wednesday was even more special by the official recognition of a sea turtle fossil donated to Sternberg by the Bird Ranch in Gove County.

Adjunct Paleontologist Mike Everhart explains it’s the oldest know example of the Protostega gigas Cope:

Extended members of the Bird family were on hand for the ceremony, as well as the three amateur paleontologists who first discovered the fossil toe bones.