III. The Red Panda

            Reported by Hannah

                  Dr. Wallace's drawing of a Red Panda

                         In January of 2004, Larry Bristol ( ETSU Paleontology Coordinator ) discovered a tooth of  an animal at the Gray Fossil Site.  Dr. Wallace later identified it as a molar that they had never seen before.  Dr. Wallace said in a report in the Journal of Nature ( Wallace and Wang, 2004), " It's the dream of every paleontologist to discover a new species at some point during his or her career and to have the opportunity to name it." (Journal of Nature, Wallace and Wang, 2004)

                 Dr. Wallace called it a new species of a Red Panda and said that it was the earliest and most primitive panda so far recorded.  He was very excited about the new discovery .  Since 2004, many more bones of the Red Panda have been found.  It is such an important discovery that the bones are kept in a safe at the Gray Fossil Lab on the campus at East Tennessee State University.

                 A panda is like a bear.  The Red Panda is closely related to a giant panda, but looks like a raccoon.  The Red Panda is in a family all of its own.   The Red Pandas eat mainly bamboo shoots, grass, and fruit even though they are classified as carnivores because they sometimes eat eggs, insects, or small animals.  The paleontologists did not find any bamboo at the Gray Fossil Site, although they hypothesize that the Red Panda could have eaten a type of River Cane found at the site. 

        IV. The Alligator

            Reported by Zac

                   The alligator bones found at the Gray Fossil Site are those of a rare species.  Primarily located in the Florida Keys, this alligator is in the Crocodilian family and one of the meanest of the reptiles.

                   Like all reptiles, alligators lay eggs usually in riverside sand bays.  They also leave their eggs on their own making the eggs vulnerable to animals such as foxes, raccoons, and other carnivorous animals.  The egg takes months to hatch and once the baby is born it has no way to get food.  The baby is on its own. It is survival of the fittest.

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