🦴 Project PaleoWave

“Mapping Nevada’s Ancient Seas”

Project PaleoWave is a reproducible geospatial workflow designed to identify and prioritize potential ichthyosaur fossil localities in Nevada using open data and modern analytical tools — R, Python, QGIS, Pixi, and the Paleobiology Database (PBDB).

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🌵 Inspiration

As a student at the University of Nevada, I was captivated by the ichthyosaur fossils displayed on campus and the vast, fossil-bearing deserts of central Nevada.
Back then — in the early 1990s — prospecting for fossils meant paper maps, long hikes, and plenty of educated guessing. Technology just wasn’t there yet.

During those years, my friends and I would unwind at Great Basin Brewing Co. in Reno, sipping Ichthyosaur “Icky” IPA — a tribute to Nevada’s state fossil and the prehistoric seas that once covered this region.

That same curiosity (and maybe a few “Ickys”) inspired this project — but now, with better tools: LiDAR, open fossil data, and machine learning.

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⚙️ Project Overview

Goal: Develop a fully reproducible, modular workflow for predicting ichthyosaur fossil-bearing sites using: - PBDB fossil occurrence data\

• LiDAR-derived terrain metrics (slope, ruggedness, exposure) - Geological formation filtering (Triassic marine units) - Rule-based and machine learning models - QGIS visualization and field-ready mapping

The workflow is designed to be: - 🧩 Modular — easily adapted to other fossil taxa or regions\

• 🔁 Reproducible — managed through Pixi and renv environments\
• 🗺️ Field-ready — generating ranked candidate polygons for exploration

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🧪 Tech Stack

• Python: LiDAR processing, machine learning (PDAL, scikit-learn, rasterio)
• R: Spatial analysis and visualization (terra, sf, tmap)
• QGIS: Map creation, candidate evaluation
• Pixi: Lightweight environment manager for reproducibility
• PBDB: Open paleontological data source

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🚀 Repo Structure

PaleoWave/ ├── data/ ├── scripts/ ├── qgis/ ├── docs/ └── environment.yml

See the README and scripts for details on how to run each stage.

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🏜️ Why It Matters

With these tools, we can reduce the time spent wandering the desert by focusing on areas where geology, terrain, and known fossil occurrences all intersect.
It’s about combining science, curiosity, and a bit of Nevada spirit — to bring the ichthyosaurs of Berlin back into the light.

So grab a map (and maybe an Icky IPA), and let’s go find some fossils.

🚩 Project Flag

The official field emblem of Project PaleoWave — inspired by Nevada’s ancient seas.