A paleontologist's worst nightmare: a fossil bone is found lying on the ground. Where in the earth's strata did it come from? How does it fit into the evolution of that creature? Or, is the fossil even real?

Now, thanks to a new geochemical method developed by Temple University graduate student Doreena Patrick, scientists have a new tool to aid them in placing loose fossils back into the earth's strata or determining the fossil's legitimacy.