Seam

Seam was a small pangolin-tween. She had a tiny leather field-guide. It stayed tucked in her vest pocket. A soft brush hung at her hip.

Seam was small. Her scales were warm brown and cream. They looked like chunky, soft armor plates. They were never spiky. Seam paid close attention. Her hands were always gentle. Her vest had a small leather field-guide. It was hand-bound. The pages were hand-inked. Little tabs stuck out. They said things like TRILOBITES and AMMONITES. Other tabs read BRACHIOPODS, CRINOIDS, DINOSAURS, and MAMMALS. Each tab led to a page. These pages showed pictures to compare. At her hip, Seam carried a soft camel-hair brush. She used it to clear dust off a fossil. It never scratched the old bone.

This was Seam's special craft. She showed everyone family-resemblance-matching. It was a skill for sorting fossils. You looked at a fossil. Then you asked, "What KIND of creature is this?" When Seam found a fossil, she first brushed off the dust. She opened her field-guide. She found the page with pictures. These pictures looked most like her fossil. Then she checked for special clues. Did this fossil have three body parts like a trilobite? Was it a coiled shell like an ammonite? Did it have wavy ribs like a crinoid? Finding the match was the real work.