Want to learn about dinosaurs? Pick up some Louisiana roadkill

Fossil-hunting can be grueling, but it’s usually not gross. Paleontologists typically work with things that have been dead for millions of years, mineralized into rock and no longer smelly. At the end of a day in the field, the researchers just have to dust themselves off and wash muddy boots and sweaty clothes. But for a new study delving into the ecosystems that dinosaurs lived in, a team of paleontologists found themselves scraping swamp rabbits and armadillos off the Louisiana highway.