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'Dinosaur Highway' rich in dig sites, museums
01:54 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Tens of millions of years ago in the West, seas rose and retreated, mountain ranges grew and eroded, the climate warmed and cooled, volcanoes erupted, tectonic plates shifted – and dinosaurs roamed.
Their prime stomping grounds were the wetlands and lowlands flanking the enormous Western Interior Sea that covered what now are the nation's plains. There, the giants walked, flew, foraged and fought. There, also, they died. Gone, but not without leaving evidence of their lives.
The long, wide strip east of today's Rocky Mountains that traces the long-gone sea is known as the Dinosaur Highway. This graveyard of the giant reptiles produces not only their fossilized bones but also travel adventures in science and history.
Dino-rich museums and sites where paleontologists and volunteers dig for the monsters' bones call to all ages. Searchers scrape away layers of earth and rock in the hope that they'll discover a new species or fill in information gaps regarding dinosaurs and simpler animals and plants.In the late 19th century, two well-to-do East Coast scientists fought the "bone wars" to gain standing with their academic peers. The combatants, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Marsh, mounted large, expensive expeditions to excavate dinosaur fossils and name as many species as possible.
Acrimonious as they were, the conflicts on the western edge of the plains where Cope, Marsh and other early paleontologists worked identified top North American sites for finding fossils.
One such place is Thermopolis, a town in north-central Wyoming known for mineral hot springs, a fancy Greek name and the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and Dig Site. Its museum displays about 200 fossil exhibits, among them 20 full-size dinosaurs, including an allosaurus, a triceratops and a camarasaurus found on the 500-acre Warm Springs Ranch. The first of the center's hometown collection of bones was unearthed at the ranch in 1993, and paleontologists are still digging there. Finds include an armored creature about the size and shape of a giant tortoise.
New species are unearthed, assembled and displayed. In the scientific community and among dinosaur enthusiasts, each is a thrill akin to the discovery of a new planet.
The center's newest is a skeletal reconstruction of Archaeopteryx lithographica, the earliest known bird. It's one of 10 specimens in the world and the only one displayed in North America.
The center also is working on a "supersaurus" nicknamed Jimbo. This giant among giants lived during the Jurassic Period 205 million years ago and is estimated to have been 135 feet long from snout to tail, 27 feet tall at the shoulder and 50 tons in weight. By contrast, the record for blue whales – the largest animal in today's world – is 108 feet long.
Currently, Montana's Two Medicine Dinosaur Center displays a skeletal model of seimosaurus, believed to be the world's longest dinosaur, and Colorado's Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Center's 17-foot-long Xiphactinus audax is among the largest, most complete examples of this shark ancestor.
Weather permitting, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center offers hourly tours to a hillside site where scientists and volunteers are digging for bones. For a more expanded experience, adults and youngsters can work alongside the pros.
The Dinosaur Academy runs weeklong Elderhostel programs, seven-day paleontology camps for high-school students and the Kids' Dig for ages 8 to 12.
"There are uncountable fossils to find but a finite number of people digging for them," says Scott Hartman, science director at the center.
Even a one-day program provides a hands-on sense of what it takes to discover dinosaurs. Participants learn to differentiate bone from stone, are introduced to the tools of the paleontologist's work and discover how the lab readies specimens for display.
Digging is painstaking. Experienced paleontologists work with chisels, trowels and larger tools. Amateurs, especially children armed mostly with enthusiasm, are issued small implements that "can't do much damage," Mr. Hartman says.
Finding a complete skeleton is rare. Bones almost always were separated, broken or dispersed by a flowing river, raging storm or scavenging animal. Bacteria consumed some matter, and small, soft bones and cartilage tended to deteriorate or disappear before they were fossilized.
Thus, each bone fragment confirmed by a paleontologist is a small triumph. Such finds remain on-site, possibly to be united with related fragments. But it's possible to buy a souvenir fossil, often from China, in the gift shop.
Among stops on the prehistoric "highway," Dinosaur National Monument showcases species and a quarry where many specimens were found, including an extremely rare infant stegosaurus. This unit of the National Park Service straddling the Colorado-Utah border welcomes amateurs to help in the digs.
In addition to numerous dinosaur centers and small museums, some major institutions in the region boast world-class fossil exhibits.
The Museum of the Rockies on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman houses the largest collection of dinosaur fossils from the United States. It's in a complex designed by world-famous paleontologist Dr. Jack Horner, adviser to the Jurassic Park films.
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science's notable Prehistoric Journey exhibit displays its spectacular dinosaurs in the context of their habitat, arranged in a timeline that begins with the most primitive life forms 3.5 billion years ago.
Claire Walter is a freelance writer in Colorado.
Most of the following organizations and institutions along the Dinosaur Highway offer displays, educational programs, views of fossil prep labs, films and summer dig site visits. Some are nonprofit or university-affiliated museums, and some are operated by commercial fossil hunters. Assume that young children get in free. Check for holiday closures and senior, military or veterans discounts, as well as one-day or multiday digs.
•Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd.; 303-322-7009; www.dmns.org.
•Dinosaur Depot Museum, 330 Royal Gorge Blvd., Cañon City; 719-269-7150; www.dinosaurdepot.com.
•Dinosaur Journey, 550 Jurassic Court, Fruita; 970-858-7282; www.dinosaurjourney.org.
•Dinosaur National Monument, 4545 E. Highway 40, Dinosaur; 970-374-3000 or 435-781-7700; www.nps.gov/dino. Quarry Visitor Center currently closed. Temporary center open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.
•Morrison Natural History Museum, 501 Colorado Highway 8, Morrison; 303-697-1873, www.mnhm.org.
•Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, 201 Fairview (at U.S. 24), Woodland Park; 719-686-1820; www.rmdrc.com.
•Montana Dinosaur Trail, www.mtdinotrail.org.
•Great Plains Dinosaur Museum & Field Station (formerly Judith River Dinosaur Institute), Highway 2 East; 406-654-5300; www.montanadinosaurdigs.com.
•Makoshika Dinosaur Museum, 111 W. Bell St., Glendive; 406-377-1637; www.makoshika.com.
•Museum of the Rockies, 600 W. Kagy Blvd., Bozeman; 406-994-2251, recorded information 406-994-3466; www.museumoftherockies.org.
•Phillips County Museum, 431 Highway 2 East, Malta; 406-654-1037; www.maltachamber.com/museum.
•Two Medicine Dinosaur Center, 120 Second Ave. South, Bynum; 1-800-238-6873 or 406-469-2211, www.tmdinosaur.org.
•Mesalands College Dinosaur Museum, 222 E. Laughlin St., Tucumcari; 505-461-3466; www.mesalands.edu/museum/museum.htm.
•New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, 1801 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque; 505-841-2800; www.nmnaturalhistory.org.
•Dakota Dinosaur Museum, 200 Museum Drive, Dickinson; 701-225-3466; www.dakotadino.com.
•Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman; 405-325-4712; www.snomnh.ou.edu.
•Black Hills Institute of Geological Research and Natural History Shoppe, 217 Main St., Hill City; www.bhigr.com (institute) and www.everythingprehistoric.com (shop).
•The Dinosaur Museum, 754 South 200 West, Blanding; 435-678-3454; www.dinosaur-museum.org.
•Dinosaur National Monument, see Colorado listing.
•Wyoming Dinosaur Center, 110 Carter Ranch Road, Thermopolis; 307-864-2997; www.wyodino.org.
•Glenrock Paleontological Museum & Dr. Robert T. Bakker Educational Center, 506 W. Birch St., Glenrock; 307-436-2667; www.paleon.org.
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