Sincerely,
Dave Ehlert
RMDRC Director
dave@rmdrc.com
 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

All Weekend! (Sat, Sept. 4 – Mon, Sept. 6)

- Register to Win ¼ Scale T-Rex Skull Valued at $299.95
- FREE Face Painting
- Scavenger Hunt For Prizes
- Children’s Reading At 11 am and 3 pm 

Saturday (Sept 4)

- Dinosaur Talks At 10 am and 4 pm by Walter Stein, Curator
- “Mr. Bones” will be entertaining all of our visitors outside 

Sunday & Monday (Sept 5 & 6)

- FREE Hot Dogs, Chips, and Drinks (With Paid Admission) 

"Mr. Bones" and dinner guest!
 

UTC: The UTC (Upper Two Calf), Montana

This site was worked from August 3rd to August 10th. Results were mixed. We began by removing the 20 feet + of overburden above the digsite. As we began to dig into the quarry wall we uncovered more skull elements, a few vertebrae, and a few ribs, but bone density was decreasing dramatically. The condition of the elements were improving but there rapidly became fewer of them. The rock encasing the bones became muddier and denser. It quickly became clear that the sandstone channel the bones were encased in was dying out and grading into more of a floodplain mudstone. We scraped the mud carefully but soon could not find any additional elements. The large area of weathered bone that we had isolated was further investigated and broken up into 8 smaller sections. These were plaster jacketed and collected. Based on field identification and some minor preparation it is clear we are working with a small to mid-sized ceratopsian, most like in the genus Centrosaurus or Monoclonius. We anticipate beginning preparation on this animal no sooner than Spring of 2005.

TMBB: (Tuss Marine Bone Bed AKA. The "Plesiosaur site", Montana

Discovered by the landowner, TMBB was investigated and opened in mid August 2004. Initially it was believed to be some sort of unusual bone bed based on the weathered material. As we began to dig into the site however, it became apparent that we had found a medium sized marine reptile…. most likely a plesiosaur. Bone density increased dramatically. Over 100 small, disarticulated bones (mostly vertebrae and paddle bones), were discovered in just three short days. Another unusual feature of the site is that it is very near the contact of the Judith River and Bear Paw Shale rock formations. This means that the animal died in a transitionary environment, like a near shore marine shoal or inter-tidal channel. Abundant terrestrial plant fossils are interspersed between the marine reptile's bones. This means that our plesiosaur may have been living very close to shore perhaps even heading into brackish waters to bear its young (live birth or eggs?) Much work still needs to be done at this very unusual site before anything is clear.
 

     From around the world comes new paleontological information. In this issue, we have one story from the Arctic and are extremely proud to announce, in a press release, our juvenile T. rex that is currently being prepared in our fossil lab.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; September 2nd, 2004

Woodland Park, Colorado: One of the worlds smallest T-rex skeletons discovered in Montana.

Preparation of the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton known as Sir William has begun after two and ½ years of intense field collection. Scientists believe it represents one of the smallest and youngest T. rex skeletons in the world. A recent study on T. rex growth rates in the Journal Nature (vol. 430, pp 772-775), by Dr. Greg Erickson of Florida State University places Sir William at around 15 years of age, second only to a fragmentary skull collected by a team of scientists at the Los Angeles County museum. Erickson’s team analyzed 20 (of only 35 or so) partial T. rex skeletons collected over the last 100 years. Sir William represents the smallest and youngest partial skeleton of the group.

The specimen was initially discovered in the summer of 2002 by Walter Stein, the field collections manager for Triebold Paleontology Inc. and curator at the recently built Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado. Stein and the owner/founder of Triebold Paleontology, Mike Triebold, were out hunting for marine reptiles in the Bear Paw Shale of central Montana when the two discovered a thin stretch of rock known as the Hell Creek Formation. After only a brief inspection of this unit, Stein came across the skeleton weathering out of a small drainage.

Preliminary preparation and analysis of the skeleton has not only helped scientists understand Tyrannosaur growth patterns, but also a great deal about T. rex behavior. Sir William’s bones were crushed, broken, and chewed upon by numerous Late Cretaceous carnivores, including possibly another T. rex. If this proves to be the case it is the first evidence of cannibalism within Tyrannosaurs.

Sir William would have been around 20 feet (6-7 meters) in length and around 3500 lbs (1760 Kg) when he died. This would be less than half the size of Sir William’s more famous cousin Sue. It appears Sir William will be between 30% - 50% complete after preparation and includes elements of the skull (>50%), the forelimbs, hind limbs, pelvis, and backbone.

Preparation of the specimen begins this week at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center’s Labor Day ceremonies in Woodland Park, Colorado. This new facility in the shadow of Pikes Peak, will give visitors the opportunity to view Sir William’s ongoing and important preparation.

In other news, "New swimming reptile fossil in Arctic" was reported by CNN and the article can be read here.