Albertosaurus  libratus

Name means “Lizard from Alberta”
Found by Mike Triebold, summer 1999
Excavated in Choteau, MT
20 feet long
9 feet tall
Estimated weight of 2 tons

Albertosaurus was a theropod, a member of the family Tyrannosaurids. The fossilized skeleton, field name “Pebbles”, was more than 55% complete with all areas of the skeleton being represented.

It was a bipedal animal, and like all tyrannosaurs was lizard-hipped. Its hind limbs were long and probably extremely powerful; each foot had three toes with large, sharp claws called tridactyl feet. Its front limbs, however, had only two fingers like the T. Rex and were too short to reach its head; the function of its small arms is not known. The anatomical differences between the Albertosaurus and the T. Rex are minimal and can probably be attributed to environmental stimulus and genetic isolation.

Triceratops  prorsus

Name means “Three-horned face”
Found by Mike Triebold in 1994
Excavated in Harding County, SD
Estimated weight of 4 tons
21 feet long
8 feet tall

Triceratops is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs. This fossilized skeleton, field name “Gundy”, was more than 80% complete with an excellent skull, an uncommon occurence. Her skull is 5 1/2 feet long and 4 feet wide and was almost 95% complete in its fossil form. The original fossil now resides in a Japanese museum.

These animals were herbivores, even though their appearance seems to look ferocious. The two horns above the eye sockets could grow to over 4 feet long. The signature neck frill has been known to span 7 feet. It is believed they used both their impressive horns and extensive frill as a defense against predators. This animal’s pelvic system is considered bird-hipped, but locomotion is quadrupedal.

Tyrannosaurus  rex

Name means “Tyrant Lizard King”
Found by Stan Sacrison in 1987
Excavated in Harding County, SD
5 foot skull

Tyrannosaurs are called the king of the dinosaurs because of its massive size and terrible teeth; however, scientists have found bigger dinosaurs since the first T. rex was named in 1905.  For a long time scientists believed that the T. rex was an aggressive carnivore, but findings now suggest that he could have been a scavenger due to recent fossil evidence. For instance, the small front arms were discovered 83 years later. This specimen, field name “Stan”, was 65% complete with this excellent skull, an uncommon occurence.  The original fossil now resides in the Black Hills Institute.

Most scientists claim that the T. rex lived over 65 million years ago.  However, there is evidence that there were Tyrannosaurs living fewer than 100,000 years ago.  In March 2005, Science Magazine reported bone tissue in a T. rex fossil with red blood cells still preserved inside.  This evidence alone limits the age of the partially fossilized bone to less than 100,000 years, which is considerablly less than 65 million.

 Tylosaurus  proriger

Name means “Knot Lizard”
Found by C.D. Bunker in 1911
Excavated in Ellis County, KS
6 foot long skull

This amazing marine reptile’s skull cast is from one of the largest tylosaur fossils ever found. The skeleton is 45 feet long and has 72 teeth! No one is quite sure why this animal was first named tylosaur (knot-lizard). Tylosaurs are in a group of marine reptiles called mosasaurs, meaning “meuse river reptile”.

This particular specimen, field named “Bunker”, has a rich history. Originally found in 1911 by C.D. Bunker, of the University of Kansas, it lay in shambles in the basement of the university museum until 1995 when Mike Triebold discovered the significance of the fossil. After gaining permission from museum officials, he painstakingly cast the brittle, crumbly pieces of rock until he had enough of the skeleton molded to make a “research replica.”

Ichthyosaurus

Name means “Fish Lizard”
Excavated in Holzmaden,
Württemberg,Germany
This fossil is 9 feet long

Mary Anning, only 11 years old, found the first Ichthyosaur in 1810 in Dorset, England. This particular Ichthyosaur was prepared by the American Museum of Natural History of New York City. Ichthyosaurs were dolphin “look-alikes”. The downward bend in the tail was originally believed to be a broken tail.  It was soon discovered, however, that this bend in the tail was necessary to support the vertical tail fin.

Although they were reptiles, the fossil evidence suggests their young were born live, as are baby whales.   The amazing thing about this fossil is that it was fossilized while apparently birthing its young!  There is a newborn beneath the tail, one still in the birth canal and an unborn in the womb.  This is an indication of rapid burial due to a significant catastrophe.

Pteranodon  longiceps

Name means “winged and toothless”
Found by Mike Triebold, 1995
Excavated from Niobrara Chalk in KS
Estimated weight of 20-30 lbs.
11 feet wingspan
3 feet tall

The pteranodon, one of the dramatic pieces in our field collection, was prepared for us by Triebold Paleontology. The fossil for this Pteranodon was almost complete, but was disarticulated and had been crushed significantly. The fossil material was analyzed and then a model was sculpted by David Peters. There is a possibility that some of these animals could still live in New Guinea. There have been many sightings of flying animals in that area of the world that seem to be pteranodon like.

Bison  latifrons

Name means “Broad-fronted bison”
Found near Booker, TX
Estimated weight of 2 tons
8 feet horn spread

Like modern buffalos, the Bison latifrons were herbivores. Their fossils are rare but offer a fascinating look into the buffalo’s past. Many scientists think that modern buffalos are an evolved form of this magnificent creature. However, no distinct differences, other than size, have been recognized. The average Bison bison(the American buffalo) only stands 5 to 6 feet at the shoulder. It is much more likely that the buffalos we find today are simply the genetic descendents of these giant bison. The fact that they are smaller reinforces the idea that nature is in a state of entropy, not evolution.

Edmontosaurus  annectens

Name means “Lizard from Edmonton”
Found by Mike Triebold, 1998
Excavated in Harding County, SD
Estimated weight of 2 tons
2.5 foot skull
12 foot tall leg

This skull is cast from a well preserved fossil, of a young adult Edmontosaurus.  The fossil, field named “Survey”, was more than 75% complete and was found almost completely articulated.  The skull for this fossil was almost 100% complete and included all four teeth batteries.

An interesting fact about the Edmontosaurus is that there are an estimated 10,000 Edmontosaurs buried in Harding County, SD alone!  Another interesting fact is that Hadrosaurs, the group of dinosaurs to which the Edmontosaurus belongs, have more teeth then any other animal known, more than 1,200.

Pachycephalosaurus  wyomingsis

Name means “Thick Headed Lizard”
Found by Mike Triebold, 1994
Excavated in Harding County, SD
Estimated weight of ¾ ton
1.5 foot skull

This skull is a cast of a famous pachycephalosaurus skeleton.  Our exhibit is one of only a few copies in the world of this important specimen. This fossil, field named “Sandy”, was the most complete pachycephalosaurus skeleton known from the fossil record. In addition, this skeleton was more than 50% complete with all areas of the skeleton being represented. The skull for this skeleton, is one of only six known complete pachycephalosaurus heads found (there have been many knobs, or quadrates, of the pachycephalosaurus skull found, but they are usually very incomplete). This one was more than 65% complete, and is the first skull with significant neck vertabrae. These vertabrae were researched and shown to be too weak for the pachycephalosaurus to use this thick skull as a battering ram (as portrayed in Jurasic Park 2: The Lost World).

Trilobites

Trilobites are wonderful ocean-bottom creatures that have been found in several of the geological systems of the Paleozoic, especially the Cambrian - so much so until the trilobite is called the index fossil of Cambrian rocks. Trilobites had extremely well designed eyes; as a matter of fact, the mathematical understanding for the trilobite eye was not even known until about 100 years ago. They are in the same group of creatures as are the dry land insects and could roll up their body like a pill bug(rollie-pollie). It is believed that when their fossils display their body rolled-up, they were attempting to defend themselves from the danger at the time of their death.

Neanderthal

This skull is a research specimen of the famous Neanderthal skeleton found in 1908 in Dordogne, France.  The specimen, that consisted of a nearly complete skeleton, was reconstructed by the French scientist Marcellin Boule.  Unfortunately he overlooked the report of pathologist Ruldolph Virchow, who said this individual was suffering from arthritis and rickets.  Boule, therefore, constructed the skeleton to look brutish.  In 1955, anatomists Wm. J. Straus of John Hopkins University and A.J.E. Cave of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College corrected these errors.  Today, the Neanderthal is classified as Homo sapiens neandertholensis (Modern man).

Piltdown Man

The name means Dawson’s down man after one of the discoverers, Charles Dawson.  This fossil skull was supposedly found in a gravel pit near Piltdown, England.  It was thought to be a remarkable fossil find until 1953 when it was discovered that the skull was human and the jaw was that of a modern Orangutan.  It was declared a hoax!  The dark areas of the skull indicate the original fossil material and the light areas represent the reconstructed material.

Dinosaur Egg

Family: Hadrosaur
Genus: Edmontosaurus  annectens
Excavated in China
Estimated birth weight of 2 lbs.
10”-12” long

The Edmontosaurus was a type of Hadrosaur, or duck-billed dinosaur, which could grow to be 32 feet in length and weigh between 3 to 4 tons (Dr. Sharp, who stands about 6 foot, is shown in this illustration for perspective).  There have been a number of fossilized dinosaur eggs found, and surprisingly they are extremely small (for the size of the animal).  The largest egg belongs to a Sauropod called Hypselosaurus (High Lizard), which could grow to 40 feet in length, but its egg was a ball shaped structure only 10 inches in diameter.  Dr. Jack Horner, of Montana State University, made a discovery of several eggs of a Hadrosaur called Maiasaurus (Mother Lizard) in which the tiny skeleton of the unborn dinosaur had fossilized inside one of the eggs.  The Maiasaurus could grow to be 30 feet in length, but the babies were only 11 to 12 inches long at birth.  The Brachiosaurus, which could grow to be 75 feet long, 40 feet high and weigh 75 tons, had an egg that was the size of a football.

Archaeopteryx

Name means “ancient wing”
Found by Jakob Niemeyer, 1877
Excavated near Stuttgart, Germany
Estimated weight 11-18 ounces
1½ feet wingspan
1 foot long

This plate was prepared for this exhibit by Joe Taylor of the Mt. Blanco Fossil Company in Crosbyton, TX. It is a research copy of the famous Berlin specimen. There are nine known specimens of this bird that have been found to date. This fossil was thought to be an intermediate between dinosaurs and birds; however, many scientists today have rejected this idea. The bird was about the size of an adult crow.

Coprolite  (Fossil Excrement)

Found by Marion Trone
Excavated in Southwestern Colorado
Estimated weight of 10 lbs.
10” long

The term Coprolite is made of two Greek words (“kopro” meaning dung or feces, and “lite” meaning stone). Some specimens of coprolite has been sawed into halves and the contents observed.  Much has been learned about the possible diet of the animal. Many specimens of coprolite have been identified for fish, reptiles and mammals.  In some cases, it contains small bones, seeds, stems and other substances (all fossilized as well). It is probable that these are the fossilized droppings of a herbivore.

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