NOVA — S34E14 — Bone Diggers

00:00:03 NARRATOR: An amateur explorer cruising the skies of the Australian outback

00:02:02 Good one.

00:05:06 LONG: I was sitting in my office looking at the computer

00:07:07 We had a whole range of large animals,

00:09:33 Concealing their location is critical,

00:11:44 for a unique scientific discovery.

00:14:34 Some are so fragile that just a touch could destroy them.

00:16:31 Yeah, I'll get the other guys, Mark and Jeff,

00:18:29 Clearly picked it clean, bloody rooting around...

00:20:43 not just an image on the computer screen.

00:22:50 LONG: It looks so well preserved, I was thinking

00:25:07 it probably would've just fallen apart in their hands

00:27:20 NARRATOR: But if they leave anything behind,

00:30:00 John Long's colleagues from the Western Australian Museum

00:32:18 WELLS: This is one of the most fascinating

00:34:10 forensic techniques to rebuild

00:36:19 NARRATOR: Many of today's marsupials are night creatures

00:38:30 its hunting habits remain a mystery.

00:40:44 with which it can slash with that forearm.

00:43:28 frees up the arm for slashing or grasping.

00:45:46 Particularly ones that are highly specialized

00:47:47 they promote the growth of plants

00:49:55 because one of the characteristics

00:51:54 There's still a very big part of my heart is still