Dinosaur fossils: Missouri dig site is home to at least 4 rare dinosaur species and possibly more
After comparing and matching the tailed vertebrates of these discoveries, paleontologists have described them as “relatively primitive” duck-billed dinosaurs.
Chronister curator Peter Makovicky said the Missouri state dinosaur specimen, named Parrosaurus missouriensis, was unearthed after a multi-year process that began in 2017. Makovicky is a professor of Earth and environmental sciences. school at the University of Minnesota.
“Whenever you find a locality in the Midwest or Eastern North America where you get multiple dinosaur skeletons from one location, it’s really a breeze with almost no disturbance,” he said. any similarity.
“No one thinks there are any dinosaurs in Missouri,” said Abigail Kern, office manager of the Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center in Missouri. long in this part of the country”.
But this site is very rich.
While exploring the dinosaur, Makovicky and his team found several turtle fossils, painting a more complete picture of the ancient ecosystem. Paleontologists have also found parts of at least four different dinosaurs, Makovicky said, including a baby dinosaur of the same species found in the early 2000s.
The largest dinosaur mass – 2,500 pounds (1,134 kg) – was excavated with crane assistance on October 15. The fossil will be moved to Chicago’s Field Museum for preparation and study.
A fossil site for decades formed
Scientists have debated the genus of this fossil for decades. In 2018, paleontologists landed on the original genus, Parrosaurus, which was coined in 1945. The dinosaur has been reclassified four different times, but Woehlk said the reclassification did not must be unusual.
Makovicky said the wet clay at the excavation site, and the pandemic, complicated and lasted four years. He’s used to excavating fossils from harder rock, so the team had to work slowly around the softer clay.
With site observations and findings, paleontologists can better understand ancient environments – and evaluate areas for further study and excavation.
Makovicky said they are still determining the exact ages of these fossils and learning more about the distribution of dinosaurs across North America.
“There’s just so much left to learn about these ancient environments and how they relate to our knowledge of ecology and evolution,” he said.
The Sainte Genevieve Museum Learning Center is home to the juvenile specimen and its laboratory is accessible to the public. Starting in December, museum visitors will be able to watch paleontologists and other scientists prepare fossils, according to Kern.
Since fossils are so hard to find in the Midwest, Kern hopes these rare discoveries will get kids interested in archeology and geology.
“We’re a very small town in rural Missouri, so we’re really excited to be able to bring this level of scientific discovery to our town and help spread it to all communities. and schools around us,” Kern said.
.
