20th Anniversary of the Montana Dinosaur Trail

I was happy to see some new paleontology videos appearing on YouTube by Emily Graslie where she visits The Montana Dinosaur Trail. Emily made a name for herself as Chicago's Field Museum's Chief Curiosity Correspondent making videos under the The Brain Scoop name. She followed up with the excellent video series in 2019 called the Prehistoric Road Trip and shown on PBS stations.

The first video takes us to Ekalaka, Montana. A place where the Carter County Museum is located. It was founded in 1936 and was first county museum in the state. It houses fossils found by ranchers and farmers in the area. They have a mounted Edmontosaurus (Lambe, 1917) dinosaur.

Her second video takes us to Makoshika State Park at Glendive, Montana. It is home to at least 10 different dinosaur species found in the Hell Creek Formation of the late Cretaceous Period. Some dinosaur fossils found there are of Edmontosaurus (Lambe, 1917), Ankylosauria (Osborn, 1923), Tyrannosaurus rex (Osborn, 1905), and Triceratops (Marsh, 1889). One geological feature that can be seen in the landscape is the KPG boundary. They have a nice collection of aquatic fossils (turtles, gar scales, crocodile pieces, clams, Mosasaur, Elasmosaur). Another highlight is an exhibit of the 1990s excavation of one of the best preserved Thescelosaurus (Gilmore, 1913) fossils found.

She ends the video at Fort Peck Dam where you can find a restaurant that serves cheesy fried pickles.

For the third video, it highlights the Frontier Gateway Museum (201 State Street, Glendive, Montana). They have a mounted Struthiomimus (Osborn, 1917) dinosaur named Margie. Also Hadrosaurus (Leidy, 1858) fossils are on display. After leaving this museum she visits the Phillips County Museum at Malta, Montana. This museum houses a Brachylophosaurus (Sternberg, 1953) fossil named Elvis. They have a display of Montana agates.

I remember visiting the state as a child with my family and my uncle's family. My aunt was buying moss agate jewelry and I still have a few polished pieces from that trip. The museum also has a meteorite display in which Emile comments "I wonder if the dinosaurs feel a little weird about the meteorites being so close." :)  Another unique display is that of different types of barbed wire from the late 1800s.

Her last video is of a visit to the Great Plain Dinosaur Museum in Malta, Montana. The museum has ammonite fossils from the Western Interior Seaway (77 million years ago) that covered part of modern day Montana. Also found out the museum is display case showing shark teeth fossil from around the United States and fish fossils from the Green River Formation of Wyoming.

I am always looking for natural history museums to visit and now have some new locations to add to my list to visit. Please check out these informative videos about paleontology sites to visit in Montana.

Tenontosaurus tilletti Dinosaur Fossil

This fossil was displayed on August 2022, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. This dinosaur limb bone belonged to a herbivore ornithopod Tenontosaurus tilletti (Ostrom, 1970). This specimen was found in the Cloverly Formation at Montana USA. It dates to the Middle Cretaceous Period.

Dinosaur Whiskey Flask

 

A somewhat odd post today about a fossil related item I saw while visiting the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History at Bardstown, Kentucky, USA. They had several cabinets of unique whiskey containers and one was in the shape of a dinosaur. Below is mold used to create bottles.

The museum is free to visit and is located in Spalding Hall (built around 1826; rebuilt 1839). The building also hosts the Bardstown Historical Museum. The building is located at 114 North 5th Street and Xavier Drive in Bardstown Kentucky USA. It is part of the complex with the historic Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral.

Edmontonia rugosidens Dinosaur Fossil

The image of this dinosaur fossil was on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City in July 2018. This ankylosaur is called Edmontonia rugosidens. It was found by Charles Hazelius Sternberg (1850-1943) in 1917 at Red Deer River in Alberta Canada. The fossil dates to the late Cretaceous Period (75 million years ago).

Early Paleontology & The Crystal Park

 

YouTube is a great place to learn new things and one channel I look for videos to inform me is call The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered. They published a video on October 9, 2020 called The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and Early Paleontology.

The video covers the origins of paleontology in Europe. He then covers dinosaur (and other ancient creatures) exhibits at The Crystal Park (moved from the 1851 The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations) at Bromley, London, England in 1854.The park still exists today though parts are in disrepair. A group called the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs exists to help protect and restore this piece of history.

University College London produces a series called Lunch Hour Lectures. They hosted Professor Joe Cain in June 2013 discussing the park and it's dinosaurs models. Video link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPhm4Lw538U&feature=emb_logo

Image at beginning of post taken from Guide to the Crystal Palace and Park by Samuel Phillips (1814-1854) 4th Ed. Illustrated by Philip Henry Delamotte(1821-1889), published by Bradbury and Evans, London 1855. The sculptures on the island were created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894).

Only Known Dinosaur Fossil Found in Italy as of 1981

This picture is of a very special fossil called Scipionyx samniticus. It was found in the Le Cavere quarry at the edge of the village of Pietraroja, Italy. The theropod dinosaur would have lived in the Early Cretaceous Period (113 million years ago).

It was found by an amateur collector in 1981, by Italian law the find belonged to the state. The specimen was turned over to a museum in 1993. Fossil was on display at The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Milan Natural History Museum), Italy as of August 2019.

UPDATE (December 2021):  In an article just published documents a fossilized herd of 11 Cretaceous aged dinosaurs have been found at Villaggio del Pescatore quarry outside the city of Trieste, Italy. The species has been identified as Tethyshadros insularis. The first dinosaur fossil found there was in 1996 so the fossil documented in this post as being the only one found is not correct. I have changed the wording to reflect this. The article can be found here: https://rdcu.be/cCzWN or https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-02490-x

 Citation:

Chiarenza, A.A., Fabbri, M., Consorti, L. et al. An Italian dinosaur Lagerstätte reveals the tempo and mode of hadrosauriform body size evolution. Sci Rep 11, 23295 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02490-x

Protoceratops Dinosaur Egg Fossil

Here is an image of a Protoceratops andrewsi dinosaur egg fossil. It was found in Mongolia. The dinosaur would have existed in the Cretaceous Period. Fossil was on display at The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (Milan Natural History Museum), Italy as of August 2019.

Sauropod Dinosaur Tail Vertebrae Fossil

This image is of a sauropod dinosaur tail vertebrae. The fossil was found in Pryor Mountains, Montana, USA. It was on display at the Indiana University Southeast (IUS) campus, first floor of Sciences Building as part of Glenn M. Mason collection. Image taken November 2018.

Iguanodontid Dinosaur Track Cast

This image is of an iguanodontid dinosaur track cast dated Cretaceous Period (100 million years ago). The track was found in Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado, USA. It was on display at the Indiana University Southeast (IUS) campus, first floor of Sciences Building as part of Glenn M. Mason collection. Image taken November 2018.

Turkey or Dinosaur for Thanksgiving?

After eating a Thanksgiving meal (above image wish bone of dinner's main dish), I came across an article in the Washington Post about how turkeys are related to dinosaurs. About 250 million years ago (mya), the group Archosauria tree split between Pseudosuchia (ancestors of the crocodile) and Dinosauria (eoraptor),then at 240 mya the tree split again to Saurischia, Theropoda (225 mya), Tetanurae (190 mya), Maniraptora (180 mya) to today's modern birds (Avialae).

Watch the video below, as it will explain how modern birds with limbs with 3 digits, wishbones and hollow bones relate today's birds with the dinosaurs of the past.



If it does not show up it is at link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=gQJHuG1Byj0

Happy Thanksgiving!

Allosaurus fragilis Dinosaur Fossil

Allosaurus fragilis dinosaur skull fossil ("strange reptile") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1901 at Bone Cabin Quarry Wyoming USA by K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Jurassic Period (140 million years ago).

Image taken July 2018.

Diplodocus longus Dinosaur Skull Fossil

Diplodocus longus dinosaur skull fossil ("double beam") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1903 at Bone Cabin Quarry Wyoming USA by K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Jurassic Period (140 million years ago, Mesozoic Era).

Image taken July 2018.

Albertosaurus libratus Dinosaur Skull Fossil

Albertosaurus libratus dinosaur skull fossil ("reptile of Alberta") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1913 at Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada by Barnum Brown and K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Cretaceous Period (75 million years ago).

Images taken July 2018.

Tyrannosaurus rex Dinosaur Skull Fossil

Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur skull fossil ("tyrant reptile") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1908 at Big Dry Creek Montana, USA by Barnum Brown and K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Cretaceous Period (65 million years ago). This fossil was the first complete T. rex skull ever collected.

Image taken July 2018.

Tyrannosaurus rex Dinosaur Fossil

Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur fossil ("tyrant reptile") displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, USA. It was found in 1908 at Big Dry Creek Montana, USA by B. Brown and K. C. Kaisen. The fossil dates to the Late Cretaceous Period (65 million years ago). This fossil is one of the few real ones on display in the world.

Images taken July 2018.

Deinocheirus mirificus Limb Fossil

This is a cast of the front limbs of a Deinocheirus mirificus dinosaur fossil. It was collected by Z. Kielan-Jaworowska in 1965 at Altan Ulaa III in Mongolia. Fossil dates to the Late Cretaceous Period (72 million years ago).

Fossil on display at American Museum of Natural History in New York City USA as of July 2018.

Struthiomimus altus Dinosaur Fossil

This is the skull and jaws of a Struthiomimus altus dinosaur fossil. This animal resembled a modern ground bird and classified as a ornithomimid ("bird mimic"). It was collected in Red Deer Creek, Alberta Canada. Fossil dates to the Late Cretaceous Period (72 million years ago).

Fossil on display at American Museum of Natural History in New York City USA as of July 2018.

PaleoFauna Coloring Book - Kickstarter Project

I believe in supporting new ideas and products using Kickstarter. So far I have supported 3 technology projects and like to visit the site to see what new projects are being launched.

I came across the Coloring Book of PaleoFauna by Diane Ramic of Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. This looks like a neat idea and ambitious with 200 pages. The author has already 5 books published including one on dinosaurs.

If you get a chance check out this campaign and support if you want a neat coloring book of creatures that only exist as fossils now. The campaign ends on August 6, 2017.

LINK: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1036907625/the-coloring-book-of-paleofauna/description

Gertie the Dinosaur Videos

I came across of video on YouTube of what is called the first animation featuring a dinosaur. It is a short animation from 1914 by Winsor McCay. Gertie was based off an Apatosaurus dinosaur fossil skeleton (known at the time as Brontosaurus). There is also a mammoth for comic effect later in the film. An odd appearance of a winged dragon flying across the screen shows up as well. This Wikipedia article about this film explains that the animator was not sure of the mechanics of the dinosaur standing up was so the flying lizard was added to draw the viewer's attention away during this event.

The film introduced a number of animation techniques like keyframing, tracing paper, registration marks and looping frames to show movement. The film is part of the U.S. National Film Registry. The film below is just the excerpt of the animation from the 1914 original, it lasts about 5 minutes.




This next video shows one of Winsor McCay's last animations showing how Gertie evolved in animation terms from 1921. It was from a never finished short entitled "Gertie on Tour".


Below is a embedded video link to the full movie short from 1914 that is about 14 minutes long. It features a side story about visiting the American Museum of Natural History and a bet to make one of the dinosaurs move.

Agatized Dinosaur Bone Fossil

Galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie which is part of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle of Paris France had these two dinosaur fossils on display. The specimens were found in Utah, USA.