If you’re the type of person who likes to hug trees and stand barefoot on the grass, perhaps the following trend is for you. A popular social-media post is showing the so-called “Bearded Ranger” at Badlands National Park teaching visitors how to differentiate between a fossil and a rock. All you have to do is lick it.
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“Learning how to tell the difference between a fossil and a rock straight from the literal mouth of the Bearded Ranger! Lick it!” wrote Julia DeMarines in her Instagram post sharing the funny video. “Bones have capillaries that can stay preserved when they fossilize and that capillary action will suck up moisture and make it stick to your tongue.”
DeMarines and her friend gave it a try. DeMarines finished up her post saying: “Mind blown.”
South Dakota’s Badlands National Park is rich with fossils, thanks to the way the landscape was formed. One of visitors’ favorite past times there is to look for fossilized remains. (If you do find a fossil, the protocol is to geotag it and tell a ranger.)
Watch the Bearded Ranger teach DeMarines and her friend how to tell a fossil from a rock here:
Header stock image by Layne Kennedy/Getty Images