1 00:00:01,866 --> 00:00:04,500 JOHN YANG: Now to our "NewsHour" Shares, something interesting that caught our eye. 2 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:09,366 Ray Stanford has been looking for dinosaurs in creek beds and rivers for more than 30 3 00:00:09,366 --> 00:00:11,766 years. 4 00:00:11,766 --> 00:00:14,833 Despite being a self-taught tracker, Stanford is something of a legend among paleontologists. 5 00:00:14,833 --> 00:00:19,833 As the "NewsHour"'s Pamela Kirkland reports, six years ago, he made his biggest discovery 6 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:22,300 to date. 7 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:24,333 RAY STANFORD, Paleontologist: There's part of a track down to the lower right, too. 8 00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:28,700 PAMELA KIRKLAND: When it comes to tracking dinosaurs, Ray Stanford is a natural. 9 00:00:31,566 --> 00:00:36,566 Stanford is a self-taught paleontologist known for his talent for finding dinosaur fossils 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,000 from the Cretaceous era, 140 to 65 million years ago. 11 00:00:45,100 --> 00:00:48,566 In 2010, while visiting his wife, Sheila, an information specialist at NASA's Goddard 12 00:00:49,766 --> 00:00:52,833 Space Flight Center, he noticed a loose rock. 13 00:00:52,833 --> 00:00:57,833 RAY STANFORD: This is the theropod track that led to ultimately the grand discovery. 14 00:00:59,933 --> 00:01:04,033 PAMELA KIRKLAND: On a separate visit two years later, a rock on the hillside, not far from 15 00:01:05,166 --> 00:01:07,266 the first track he found, caught his eye. 16 00:01:07,266 --> 00:01:11,166 RAY STANFORD: If you had told me this, I would never have believed that I was going to find 17 00:01:11,166 --> 00:01:13,266 something like this. 18 00:01:13,266 --> 00:01:17,166 PAMELA KIRKLAND: This time, it was the footprint of a nodosaur, the Cretaceous period's version 19 00:01:17,766 --> 00:01:20,133 of an armadillo. 20 00:01:20,133 --> 00:01:24,333 Beneath the ground, there were more tracks Stanford couldn't see. 21 00:01:24,333 --> 00:01:29,333 After years of analysis, it turns out he'd stumbled upon one of the best fossil trackways 22 00:01:30,866 --> 00:01:32,866 in the world. 23 00:01:32,866 --> 00:01:36,866 RAY STANFORD: Over 100 tracks, over -- or nearly 40 mammal tracks of at least three 24 00:01:38,866 --> 00:01:42,133 and probably five species of mammals, at least three species of dinosaur tracks, and probably 25 00:01:43,333 --> 00:01:46,000 two or three species of flying reptile tracks. 26 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,000 PAMELA KIRKLAND: At least 110 million years ago, these dinosaurs sauropods and nodosaurs, 27 00:01:53,433 --> 00:01:58,166 small mammals, and flying reptiles, like the pterosaur, crossed paths on the 8.5-foot slab 28 00:01:59,633 --> 00:02:01,633 of sandstone. 29 00:02:01,633 --> 00:02:06,033 Because none of the prints overlap, experts think the tracks occurred over the course 30 00:02:06,033 --> 00:02:07,900 of few days or hours. 31 00:02:07,900 --> 00:02:12,900 They remained untouched until now. 32 00:02:14,766 --> 00:02:18,766 This replica is displayed in Goddard's Earth Science Building in Greenbelt, Maryland. 33 00:02:20,133 --> 00:02:22,566 The original sits in a warehouse for further study. 34 00:02:22,566 --> 00:02:27,266 If not for Stanford, the discovery might have been lost to construction. 35 00:02:27,266 --> 00:02:30,033 At the time, NASA had planned to build on the site. 36 00:02:30,033 --> 00:02:35,033 COMPTON TUCKER, NASA: I had walked by that place probably 30 or 40 times, and I had no 37 00:02:36,666 --> 00:02:39,300 idea there was something so cool right there. 38 00:02:39,300 --> 00:02:44,300 PAMELA KIRKLAND: Compton Tucker is a climate researcher at NASA and oversaw the excavation 39 00:02:45,033 --> 00:02:47,266 of the four-ton stone. 40 00:02:47,266 --> 00:02:51,900 NASA tapped Tucker for his experience working on archaeological digs to find buried ruins. 41 00:02:53,133 --> 00:02:55,700 COMPTON TUCKER: We found where the sandstone was. 42 00:02:55,700 --> 00:02:58,900 We organized a team of volunteers to come in on weekends. 43 00:02:58,900 --> 00:03:03,066 And we dug out all of the rocks we found in our survey, and one of those rocks is the 44 00:03:03,066 --> 00:03:06,533 amazing rock which has the track Ray Stanford found. 45 00:03:06,533 --> 00:03:09,766 RAY STANFORD: These people are used to looking into space, not into ancient time, looking 46 00:03:09,766 --> 00:03:11,800 down. 47 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,233 PAMELA KIRKLAND: Stanford has been looking at tracks for over 25 years, thanks to his 48 00:03:15,233 --> 00:03:17,966 10-year-old son's curiosity in dinosaurs. 49 00:03:17,966 --> 00:03:21,700 RAY STANFORD: Joel (ph), who at a secondhand bookstore said, "Daddy, let's get this book 50 00:03:21,700 --> 00:03:23,800 on tracking dinosaurs." 51 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,300 And we began to find dinosaur tracks in the stream, although we'd read another book that 52 00:03:27,300 --> 00:03:29,700 said that nothing had been found in the D.C.-Maryland area. 53 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:34,400 PAMELA KIRKLAND: Since then, Stanford has tripled the number of dinosaurs and winged 54 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,466 reptiles identified in the state of Maryland. 55 00:03:37,466 --> 00:03:42,466 One of his finds, a hatchling of a baby nodosaur, the only hatchling of an armored dinosaur 56 00:03:44,433 --> 00:03:48,333 in the world, sits on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 57 00:03:49,933 --> 00:03:53,666 RAY STANFORD: This is my favorite footprint possibly of all of them. 58 00:03:55,733 --> 00:03:57,733 PAMELA KIRKLAND: He and his wife, Sheila, estimate they have collected over 1,000. 59 00:03:57,733 --> 00:04:02,733 RAY STANFORD: In the middle of this, we have the adult theropod dinosaur. 60 00:04:04,166 --> 00:04:07,233 PAMELA KIRKLAND: For Stanford, fossil hunting is second nature. 61 00:04:07,233 --> 00:04:08,733 RAY STANFORD: It's a gift. 62 00:04:08,733 --> 00:04:10,233 It's a habit that grows. 63 00:04:10,233 --> 00:04:13,200 And the more you do it, the better you get at it. 64 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:18,200 PAMELA KIRKLAND: After unearthing his largest find, the 79-year-old is still searching for 65 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:20,433 the next big discovery. 66 00:04:20,433 --> 00:04:23,966 RAY STANFORD: You get addicted, I confess. 67 00:04:23,966 --> 00:04:26,000 You just keep on tracking. 68 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,100 PAMELA KIRKLAND: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Pamela Kirkland in Greenbelt, Maryland.