Rosemary Campbell
Staff Writer
A Tyrannosaurus Rex-size dinosaur is headed toward the U, but it has a lot more in common with Daffy Duck than with Barney the purple dinosaur.
The duck-billed dinosaur, nearly 40 feet long from its nose to the tip of its tail, roamed around the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Southern Utah 75 million years ago, said Mike Getty, collections manager of paleontology at the Utah Museum of Natural History.
In 2007, a team of paleontologists from the U discovered the fossils of the duck-billed dinosaur, along with those of an armored dinosaur, a crocodile, a small flying dinosaur and some turtles. All of them are now being transported up to the U for further study.
“This quarry was really a good one for us,” Getty said. “We’re making a lot of exciting discoveries.”
Between 30 and 40 people participated in the fossil excavations, Getty said. The groups spend four to six months in the field each year digging for bones, and they have a lot of success.
Eric Lund, a second-year master’s student in geology, is the paleontology lab manager at the UMNH. He helped excavate and prepare the fossils to be moved to the U.
At the U, it will take several years for researchers to extract the fossils from the rock in which they are embedded. Lund said he estimates that for every hour spent in the field digging, about 10 hours are spent in the lab preparing fossils for research, depending on the fragility of the bones.
Many of the dinosaurs found at sites in the Grand Staircase monument appear to be new species, Lund said. The lab research will reveal whether they are.
Apart from these discoveries three years ago, Lund said they have found many other types of dinosaurs, both large and small. About 70 of the skeletons are nearly complete.
“We are trying to create and basically tell a story of what the Grand Staircase was like when dinosaurs were around,” Lund said.
Before the skeletons go on display in the museum, they go through a long process of extraction and research. Even then, Lund said, the bones on display are not the originals, but are casts of the real fossils, making it possible for researchers to continue studying the original skeletons. The dinosaurs won’t be on display in the current UMNH building but will be completed in time for the new one after it opens in Red Butte Gardens.
It’s a great opportunity for people to see fossils from Utah that may or may not be new to science,” Lund said.
As for how long the duck-billed dinosaur skeleton and the other fossils will be at the U, Getty said it will be a long time.
“(The skeleton) will be here forever,” he said. “We will look after these bones as best we can forever.”
