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Description

As our probes floated gently along the shoreline, one thing stood out drastically. It was covered in fossils!
There was a rock about every meter or so that displayed evidence of Past Life. And none of the fossils looked the same.
This distribution of fossils is likely common across the entire planet, but is mostly obscured by the large amount of biomass the biosphere is covered in.
But thanks to the little Rockhoppers, who’s grazing habits are keeping the rocks above water free from accumulating biomass, we are given a rare glimpse into the past.
Because digging for fossils would be extremely damaging for a living world, it is seen as unethical, and is therefore avoided in planetary exploration.
Consequently, there isn’t really any automated equipment designed for digging up fossils. And to this day, fossil hunting and excavation remains a largely manual task.
Xenopaleontology is mostly practiced through non-invasive means, like taxonomic reconstruction or genetic correlation, if biological samples can be retrieved.
As for now, Chini, our resident Xenopaleontologist is having a field day. And after making us look at seemingly every second rock, we decided to designate one probe entirely to her.
She has currently locked herself in her office and has only left it once in the past seven hours to get some coffee.
Suvi is having us place bets on when she will emerge again.

Description

As our probes floated gently along the shoreline, one thing stood out drastically. It was covered in fossils!
There was a rock about every meter or so that displayed evidence of Past Life. And none of the fossils looked the same.
This distribution of fossils is likely common across the entire planet, but is mostly obscured by the large amount of biomass the biosphere is covered in.
But thanks to the little Rockhoppers, who’s grazing habits are keeping the rocks above water free from accumulating biomass, we are given a rare glimpse into the past.
Because digging for fossils would be extremely damaging for a living world, it is seen as unethical, and is therefore avoided in planetary exploration.
Consequently, there isn’t really any automated equipment designed for digging up fossils. And to this day, fossil hunting and excavation remains a largely manual task.
Xenopaleontology is mostly practiced through non-invasive means, like taxonomic reconstruction or genetic correlation, if biological samples can be retrieved.
As for now, Chini, our resident Xenopaleontologist is having a field day. And after making us look at seemingly every second rock, we decided to designate one probe entirely to her.
She has currently locked herself in her office and has only left it once in the past seven hours to get some coffee.
Suvi is having us place bets on when she will emerge again.