Tag: Montana
-
Lokiceratops, a Horned Dinosaur, May Be a New Species
An artist’s reconstruction of Lokiceratops rangiformis, a new species of ceratopsian recovered from the badlands of northern Montana.Credit…Sergey Krasovskiy for the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark The New York Times has an article about the discovery of a fossil skull that might represent a new species of ceratopsian dinosaur. Lokiceratops rangiformis, lived about 78…
-
New research shows ‘juvenile’ T. rex fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur
Phys.org has an article about Nanotyrannus lancensis. A paper in the journal Fossil Studies proposes that N. lancensis is a distinct species of tyrannosaur and not a juvenile T. rex. The first skull of Nanotyrannus was found in Montana in 1942, but for decades, paleontologists have gone back and forth on whether it was a…
-
Meet ‘Horridus,’ one of the most complete Triceratops fossils ever found
LiveScience has the story of a very large and nearly complete Triceratops in the land down under. A Triceratops, nicknamed “Horridus” after its species name Triceratops horridus, is now on display in a new exhibit “Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs,” at the Melbourne Museum in Australia. The specimen is about 85% complete and died about…
-
Dinosaur Cowboys Are Hunting for the Next $32 Million T. Rex
Bloomberg has a story about the Dinosaur Cowboy. Known for discovering the “Dueling Dinosaurs”, Clayton Phipps is a rancher and an amateur paleontologist. The story does a great job describing the controversy around the commercial exploitation of fossils, mainly dinosaurs. On a sunny, 99-degree day in northern Montana, Clayton Phipps grabs a backpack and heads…
-
What We’ve Discovered About the ‘Tyrant Lizard King’ Since the Nation’s T. rex Was Unearthed
Smithsonian Magazine has a post about Tyrannosaurus rex. To date, about 50 T. rexes have been found, quite a few of those have been fragmentary. The Nation’s T. rex was discovered in 1988 in Montana by local rancher Kathy Wankel. It is often referred to as the “Wankel Rex”. Since then, we have learned so…
-
LiveScience: Cretaceous cold case of ‘dueling’ T. rex and Triceratops may finally be solved
LiveScience has a story about the “Dueling Dinosaurs”. This extraordinary fossil specimen of two of the most complete dinosaurs skeletons ever discovered. One is a Triceratops and the other is a Tyrannosaurs rex and they may possibly be locked in 67 million year old mortal combat. These fossils are heading to North Carolina State University to undergo some extensive study. …
-
Court rules “Dueling Dinos” belong to landowners, in a win for science
Science Magazine has a story about the “Dueling Dinos”. Discovered in 2006, the “Dueling Dinos” is a specimen that consists of two dinosaurs, a ceratopsian and a tyrannosaur, lying next to each other in what seems like mortal combat. Over the last few years, a court battle has tried to determine who owns these priceless…
-
Opal Hunting at the Spencer, Idaho Mini-Mine by Andy Jansen
Rock hunting opportunities were dancing through my mind when I was requested to go to Idaho Falls, ID for a business meeting the third week of July. Should I go for fossils, minerals, or both? I was scouring websites for options that would be within a couple hours drive from Idaho Falls in the likely…
-
PBS Eons: The Raptor That Made Us Rethink Dinosaurs
PBS Eons has a new episode about Deinonychus and that endless question… Were dinosaurs warm or cold blooded? In 1964, a paleontologist named John Ostrom unearthed some fascinating fossils from the mudstone of Montana. Its discovery set the stage for what’s known today as the Dinosaur Renaissance, a total re-thinking of what we thought…
-
The Guardian: Perhaps the best dinosaur fossil ever discovered. So why has hardly anyone seen it?
The Guardian has an article about the so called “Dueling Dinosaurs”. The “Dueling Dinosaurs” are a large fossil plate that consists of both a 28 foot long ceratoptian (probably Triceratops horridus) and a 22 foot long theropod (possibly Tyrannosaurus rex or the controversial Nanotyrannus lancensis). Both skeletons are fairly complete, with exceptional preservation, fully articulated,…
-
AP: Montana Legislature clarifies ownership rights of fossils
The AP is running a story that reports on the Montana legislation to clarify ownership of fossils. The Montana Legislature unanimously passed a bill last Friday that designates ownership of fossils as part of the property’s surface rights, not its mineral rights, unless there is a contract separating those rights. The state Senate passed the…
-
Montana: All Fossils Are Minerals
The Bozeman Daily Chroniclepeter has a story about the 9th circuit court ruling that all fossils in Montana are minerals. The AAPS is working with Peter Larson and an attorney to file an Amicus Brief. The goal is to as the court for an en banc hearing by a larger panel of judges to get…
-
New Book on Hell Creek Formation from GSA
From the Geological Society of America: Full Title: Through the End of the Cretaceous in the Type Locality of the Hell Creek Formation in Montana and Adjacent Areas Editors: Gregory P. Wilson, William A. Clemens, John R. Horner, and Joseph H. Hartman Description: For over a century, the Hell Creek and Fort Union formations and their constituent…
