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We've returned to The Jurassic Mile™ dig site! Stay tuned for exciting updates from the field throughout the Dino Days 2021 season! We know you'll dig into what's happening this year.
Aug. 21, 2021
This was the digital team's last day on the site. The dig team worked to put field jackets on more of the cervicals as well as the ulna, radius, and humerus. The field jackets will protect the fossils on their long journey back to the museum. The scapula will stay in the ground for another year until the team is able to uncover more of the fossil and safely excavate it.
The team also found what they think are even more juvenile sauropod footprints!
Thank you for joining us on this journey! Stay tuned for much more as we move toward opening the new Dinosphere® in March of 2022!
Aug. 20, 2021
RAIN DAY! REST DAY! The team took advantage of the rain to take the day off and explore the beautiful area around the dig site. Back at it tomorrow!
Aug. 19, 2021
It's been raining all night and most of the day, so we were unable to dig today. Not only are the dirt and rock roads difficult and dangerous to pass in the rain, but the rain is also hard on the fossils, so the team tries to keep them as dry as possible. We do want to update you on an incredible find from yesterday--two juvenile sauropod footprints! Trackways like this can unlock secrets into behaviors of dinosaurs--like did they move in packs or herds and how fast were they? They help the scientists paint a better picture of what happened at this site. To find fossils, trackways, and plant life all in one site is especially unique. Here are some pictures of the two footprints:
And here's another clip from earlier this week. We are up to our necks—dino necks—in cervicals!
Aug. 18, 2021
Today it was rainy and cold! Temperatures went from 90 degrees yesterday to the low 50s today. The team battled spitting rain, high winds, and cold temperatures, but kept working until the rain became too heavy. The main priorities today were to get a field jacket on one of the cervical bones and to continue trenching around the humerus, radius, and ulna to prepare them for a field jacket. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow—if the weather holds up! We also had an exciting find that we will tell you more about tomorrow!
Here are a few pictures from today:
Aug. 17, 2021
Our first video update from the 2021 dig site! Stay tuned for what we've found in the quarry so far this year. Dr. Jenn Anné is your on-site expert.
Check out some photos from today at the dig!
Aug. 11, 2021
How do our paleontologists carefully dig out millions-of-year-old fossils? To get at this Diplodocus neck bone, they used an X-Acto knife, bayonet, and a brush!
Aug. 9, 2021
The first theropod tooth found on the 2021 dig!
This tooth likely came from an Allosaurus.
Here are some of the tools that are used to dig up some neck bones of a Diplodocus! Do any of these tools look familiar?
Aug. 5, 2021
The first team has arrived!
Our team of scientists has arrived at The Jurassic Mile™ and can't wait to get their hands dirty!
