WWU researchers retrieve fossil track of giant extinct bird

At 10:24 a.m. Monday, July 12, in the foothills northeast of Deming, the heavy-duty helicopter gently lowered a sandstone slab onto a flatbed truck on loan from Western Washington University.

A safe distance away in the foothills drizzle, several members of WWU's geology department watched as their prize fossil - a top-grade track of an extinct giant bird - finally reached safety.