I always loved dinosaurs
Stunning T. rex find in Montana
Paleontologist Jack Horner, at left, looks on as a cast of fossil remains is transported. Horner is part of a team that found five tyrannosaur fossil sites in eastern Montana. Click on the video button to watch a report from NBC's Bob Faw.
Oct. 6 — Paleontologist Jack Horner is planning to pull an incredible five T. rex fossils out of Montana’s badlands. “The fact that we found this many of them either means they were more common than we thought — or we’re just really lucky,” said Horner, curator of paleontology for the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.
FOSSILS OF TYRANNOSAURUS Rex are found every 10 years or so, but no one has ever discovered this many together before.
As depicted in the film “Jurassic Park” — and as reflected in its Latin scientific name - T. rex was truly the “king of the tyrant lizards” during its heyday 70 million years ago. The beasts ranged up to 40 feet long, stood almost 20 feet tall when they reared up and weighed as much as 8 tons. Using its 6-inch-long teeth and its razor-sharp teeth, T. rex could rip off and devour huge chunks of flesh.
It may no longer be considered the biggest meat-eater, but no other dinosaur has held such a hold on the popular imagination. And one of Horner’s five sets of fossils may set a new standard for the tyrannosaurs.
The specimen was found by Horner’s wife, Celeste, and named “C-rex” in her honor. The Horners say it may be 10 percent bigger than mighty Sue, the tyrannosaur skeleton that was found in South Dakota and auctioned off to Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History three years ago at a price of $8.36 million.
That won’t happen to the new fossils. Since they were found on federal land — a national wildlife refuge — they belong to the public.
The fossilized skeletons are still encased in tons of rock. “There were just tiny little scraps at the surface of the ground,” Celeste Horner said. But the Horners — along with fellow paleontologists from the Museum of the Rockies, the University of South Dakota, the University of California at Berkeley and other institutions — plan to unearth the specimens next summer.
“That’s part of the mystery and excitement of discovery,” said Richard Benson, senior scientist at the Smithsonian Institution. “Maybe he’ll find why the five were together.”
The newly found fossils could help paleontologists trace the development of T. rex over millions of years, said Horner, who provided the real-life model for the paleontologist in “Jurassic Park.”
“Maybe we’ll actually be able to see them losing their arms ... or their ability to run decreasing through time,” he said, “stuff that’s really interesting.”
----------------------------
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ~ Rev. 21:4
Stunning T. rex find in Montana
Paleontologist Jack Horner, at left, looks on as a cast of fossil remains is transported. Horner is part of a team that found five tyrannosaur fossil sites in eastern Montana. Click on the video button to watch a report from NBC's Bob Faw.
Oct. 6 — Paleontologist Jack Horner is planning to pull an incredible five T. rex fossils out of Montana’s badlands. “The fact that we found this many of them either means they were more common than we thought — or we’re just really lucky,” said Horner, curator of paleontology for the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.
FOSSILS OF TYRANNOSAURUS Rex are found every 10 years or so, but no one has ever discovered this many together before.
As depicted in the film “Jurassic Park” — and as reflected in its Latin scientific name - T. rex was truly the “king of the tyrant lizards” during its heyday 70 million years ago. The beasts ranged up to 40 feet long, stood almost 20 feet tall when they reared up and weighed as much as 8 tons. Using its 6-inch-long teeth and its razor-sharp teeth, T. rex could rip off and devour huge chunks of flesh.
It may no longer be considered the biggest meat-eater, but no other dinosaur has held such a hold on the popular imagination. And one of Horner’s five sets of fossils may set a new standard for the tyrannosaurs.
The specimen was found by Horner’s wife, Celeste, and named “C-rex” in her honor. The Horners say it may be 10 percent bigger than mighty Sue, the tyrannosaur skeleton that was found in South Dakota and auctioned off to Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History three years ago at a price of $8.36 million.
That won’t happen to the new fossils. Since they were found on federal land — a national wildlife refuge — they belong to the public.
The fossilized skeletons are still encased in tons of rock. “There were just tiny little scraps at the surface of the ground,” Celeste Horner said. But the Horners — along with fellow paleontologists from the Museum of the Rockies, the University of South Dakota, the University of California at Berkeley and other institutions — plan to unearth the specimens next summer.
“That’s part of the mystery and excitement of discovery,” said Richard Benson, senior scientist at the Smithsonian Institution. “Maybe he’ll find why the five were together.”
The newly found fossils could help paleontologists trace the development of T. rex over millions of years, said Horner, who provided the real-life model for the paleontologist in “Jurassic Park.”
“Maybe we’ll actually be able to see them losing their arms ... or their ability to run decreasing through time,” he said, “stuff that’s really interesting.”
----------------------------
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ~ Rev. 21:4