By now, the expansion project is nearly three-quarters completed. The pace of dredging has slowed, and engineers have begun shifting their focus to the design and construction of the locks that will raise and lower ships as they pass through the 48-mile canal. During the first few years of the expansion, as many as 20 scientists would scour the dredge sites daily; that number has shrunk to around five. The expansion is expected to be finished by December 2015.
The $6.5 million dig for fossils was financed with grants from the Panama Canal Authority, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society and a private donor.
On a recent morning, Maccracken and Colleary made their way back from the canal to their lab, a large complex at the Cerro Ancon, a 653-foot hill overlooking Panama City, and unpacked their day’s finds at a communal table. Maccracken, who suspected the palm-sized rock she brought back contained a fossilized shark tooth, said if the meticulous cleanup did not yield a positive identification, she would send the object to the University of Florida, a partner in the project, for further tests.