Monumental Fossil Discovery
TheWkly Analysis
Roughly 3,000 pounds of fossils and rock have been unearthed at Dinosaur National Monument, the National Park Service said yesterday. The discovery marks the first excavation in over 100 years at the national park straddling Utah and Colorado. The fossil trove was accidentally discovered during a parking lot construction project near the Quarry Exhibit Hall, where visitors can see roughly 1,500 dinosaur bones encased in a rock face. Paleontologists believe the new fossils belong to a large long-necked dinosaur—most likely a Diplodocus. The extinct genus is thought to have had scales patterned in a range of dark colors, similar to those of modern reptiles and birds, according to a recent study analyzing fossilized skin samples from another site in Montana. Dinosaur National Monument was established in 1915 to protect 80 acres around the Carnegie Quarry—a rock formation that yielded over 350 tons of fossils in the early 20th century. The park has since been expanded to include over 210,000 acres.
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Key Entities
- • National Park Service - Agency that announced the discovery
- • Dinosaur National Monument - Park where the fossils were unearthed
- • Quarry Exhibit Hall - Visitor area near the excavation site
- • Carnegie Quarry - Historic fossil-rich formation tied to the monument’s origin
- • Diplodocus - Suspected dinosaur genus for the newly found fossils
- • Paleontologists - Scientists analyzing and excavating the trove
- • Montana - Location referenced for related fossilized skin research
- • Utah - US state included in the monument
- • Colorado - US state included in the monument
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