Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.
Kahlil Gibran
The fossils recovered and cataloged each year range in size from large femora to tiny teeth.
Except for small unidentified bone fragments and short tendons, each is assigned an HRS field number which becomes its permanent identification.
Another measure of the progress during a season is the cumulative number of specimens catalogued by the end of each week's work.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 308 +308 | 491 +183 | 727 +236 | 883 +156 |
| 2005* | 755 | |||
| 2006 | 194 +194 | 621 +427 | 982 +361 | 1182 +200 |
| 2007 | 237 +237 | 569 +332 | 919 +350 | 1038 +119 |
| 2008 | 248 +248 | 587 +339 | 837 +250 | 959 +122 |
| 2009 | 249 +249 | 712 +463 | 1037 +325 | 1233 +196 |
| 2010 | 349 +349 | 614 +265 | 975 +361 | 1185 +210 |
| 2011 | 491 +491 | 1210 +719 | 1647 +437 | 1965 +318 |
| 2012 | 368 +368 | 1043 +675 | 1435 +392 | 1633 +198 |
| 2013 | 487 +487 | 1222 +735 | 1874 +652 | 2256 +382 |
| 2014 | 208 +208 | 737 +529 | 1023 +286 | 1148 +125 |
| 2015 | 325 +325 | 836 +511 | 1121 +285 | 1267 +146 |
| 2016† | 194 +194 | 436 +242 | 955 +519 | 1226 +271 |
| 2017 | 344 +344 | 859 +515 | 1481 +622 | 1736 +255 |
| 2018 | 370 +370 | 1011 +641 | 1385 +374 | 1797 +412 |
| 2019 | 562 +562 | 1323 +761 | 1995 +672 | 2252 +257 |
| averages | 328.9 +328.9 | 818.1 +489.1 | 1226.2 +408.1 | 1407.2 +181.0 |
* weekly data not recorded
† season total is for the end of the regular expedition season—an additional 42 recovered after the group left for a total 1268
averages do not include weeks with zero bones recorded
Prior to 2004 the first week of the season was only a part week and the work in the quarries extend into the first days of the fifth week—weekly totals are therefore not comparable.
The week data are the totals at the end of work on Friday except for Season which is Wednesday evening or Thursday morning when all the quarries are closed—this number is also the total for the season.
Of course, these numbers do not take into account the number of participants in each week, off-days that may vary from year to year, inclement weather, etc.
Another measure is the productivity for each participant.
| bones recovered | participant days | ratio | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 721 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | 992 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | 1002 | 413 | 2.43 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | 883 | 587 | 1.50 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | 755 | 617 | 1.22 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | 1182 | 806 | 1.47 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | 1038 | 686 | 1.51 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | 959 | 793 | 1.21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | 1233 | 760 | 1.62 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 1185 | 882 | 1.34 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | 1965 | 996 | 1.97 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 1633 | 795 | 2.05 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | 2256 | 831 | 2.71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | 1148 | 630 | 1.82 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | 1267 | 993 | 1.28 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 1268 | 792 | 1.60 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | 1736 | 1096 | 1.58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 1797 | 1315 | 1.37 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | 2252 | 1345 | 1.67 | |||||||||||||||||
| totals | 25629 † | 14337 | 1.64 | |||||||||||||||||
† bones total includes all years including 1995–2000, total ratio calculated only on years with both data
The participant days is the total number of days participants were on-site. It is not corrected for "days off"—Friday afternoons, field trip days, or Saturdays. The ratio is the average number of fossils recovered each day by a participant.
It should be kept in mind that this is still not necessarily the best measure of productivity. It does correct for different number of participants in different years, but does not take into account "days off" due to other activities or inclement weather. It does not account for different thresholds for size of tendons and bone fragments to be recorded and recovered in different years.
And finally, to compare to previous seasons, the year totals in order are:
| year | bones recovered | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2013 | 2256 |
| 2 | 2019 | 2252 |
| 3 | 2011 | 1965 |
| 4 | 2018 | 1797 |
| 5 | 2017 | 1736 |
| 6 | 2012 | 1633 |
| 7 | 2016 | 1268 |
| 8 | 2015 | 1267 |
| 9 | 2009 | 1233 |
| 10 | 2010 | 1185 |
| 11 | 2006 | 1182 |
| 12 | 2014 | 1148 |
| 13 | 2007 | 1038 |
| 14 | 2003 | 1002 |
| 15 | 2002 | 992 |
| 16 | 2008 | 959 |
| 17 | 2004 | 883 |
| 18 | 2005 | 755 |
| 19 | 2001 | 721 |
| 20 | 2000 | 222 |
| 21 | 1997 | 72 |
| 22 | 1999 | 55 |
| 23 | 1998 | 8 |