September 1, 2009
Paleontology in Action at Dinosaur National Monument
The limb bone of a sauropod dinosaur being prepared by Brigham Young University paleontologists for extraction at Dinosaur National Monument.
As soon as I arrived at the temporary visitor’s center in Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument two weeks ago, a ranger asked if I would like to go on a hike to an active fossil dig. “Sure!” I said, to which the ranger replied “Well then you had better get ready. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
I ran back to the car as fast as I could and hurriedly pulled on my hiking boots. The sandals I was wearing just were not going to cut it on the rocky trail. While I was tugging on my socks and tying my laces, though, I wondered what dig site we were going to. The famous fossil wall at the national monument had been closed a few years ago due to instability of the glass building that covered it, and the only other quarry I knew of was one that had been blasted open with dynamite a few months ago.
Being that the park was at a higher elevation than my home state of New Jersey I was breathing a little heavy by the time the group made it to the quarry, but it was worth the effort. Embedded in a vertical rock face about eight feet high were the various bones of sauropod dinosaurs that had lived during the early Cretaceous, about 110 million years ago. The work was being carried out by a team from Brigham Young University, and while it will be some time before the remains are formally described they appear to have belonged to a smaller relative of the giant dinosaur Brachiosaurus. A few bones from a fleet-footed predatory dinosaur related to Deinonychus had also been recovered from the site.
As exciting as this was, though, I was a little disappointed that I could not see the famous wall of dinosaurs that the paleontologist Earl Douglass discovered about a century ago. I had seen many photos and videos of the wall, but that can’t compete with the real thing. The good news, though, is that Dinosaur National Monument recently received federal stimulus money to build a new permanent visitor’s center. Groundbreaking on the new facility is scheduled to occur in the spring of next year, and with any luck the new building should be ready in a few years. Don’t let the wait stop you from visiting though; there is still plenty to see at Dinosaur National Monument!
Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.
10 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
That’s exciting news about the DNM. I’ve always wanted to go there too. With that, along with the planned Dinosaur Discovery Centre to be built in Grande Prairie (Alberta), there are some exciting dino-destinations in North America. I’m a contemporary artist who incorporates dinosaurs into my art so I’d love to see about getting some of my art work into these facilities.
Great blog!
Yes Brian, pictures don’t do it justice. I was lucky enough to visit the joint back in 1999. They even have an exposed bone that you can touch. How many places do you get to touch an in-situ dinosaur fossil? It’s awesome!
Also exciting to hear about the cretaceous fossils they are finding there. What formation are they from? Hopefully they’ll get a place in the new museum.
I have fond memories of visiting the Dinosaur National Monument visitors center with my family. Nothing beats giving children some real experiences with science and nature. And what could be more intriguing to children than dinosaurs? I agree with Doug, it was an awesome experience.
I’m sorry that you missed that part, but delighted to hear that they will be able to build a new facility. It is an important American resource.
For others who might be interested: The campground there is very nice. But the weather can be quite hot. I would recommend spring or fall over August. Or check into possibilities of a river rafting trip.
Thank you for the suggestions, Gaythia.
My wife and I actually lucked out on our trip; we camped at the Green River site and it was pretty mild. It was much warmer than at some of our later sites in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, but not oppressively hot. We also went on a white-water rafting trip down the Green River, and that was a lot of fun!
Dinosaur is well worth the trip just for the scenery. It’s a beautiful place!!
[...] driving through northern Utah on the way to Dinosaur National Monument this past summer, my wife and I passed through Vernal, Utah. There were dinosaurs everywhere. Big [...]
[...] my wife and I pulled into the parking lot of Dinosaur National Monument we were greeted by a rather imposing figure. Standing in front of us was this sculpture of a [...]
[...] I visited Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument this past summer the main visitor center (containing the [...]
[...] and the visitors center was closed recently. I did not get to see the great wall of dinosaurs when I visited last year. Thanks to an infusion of government funding, however, construction on a new visitor center is [...]
[...] summers ago, I visited Dinosaur National Monument for the first time. The park was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, but, I have to admit, I left a [...]