All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
3 08, 2017

A Carnivorous Dinosaur from Ethan

By |2023-08-08T21:04:56+01:00August 3rd, 2017|General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on A Carnivorous Dinosaur from Ethan

Ethan’s Meat-eating Dinosaur Drawing

Our thanks to Ethan who kindly sent into the Everything Dinosaur offices, a wonderful drawing of a meat-eating dinosaur.  In a note included with Ethan’s drawing, he explained that his two favourite dinosaurs were Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex.  As he like carnivorous dinosaurs so much he had drawn a picture of a fearsome dinosaur that would have been a carnivore, especially for us.  Thanks for this lovely drawing Ethan.

A Drawing of a Meat-eating Dinosaur from Young Dinosaur Fan Ethan

A colourful dinosaur design.

A very colourful dinosaur.

Picture credit: Ethan

A Green and Pink Dinosaur Drawing

Ethan explained that he had coloured his dinosaur green so that it could creep up on plant-eating dinosaurs and attack them without it being seen.  He gave his dinosaur some red spines and a sail just like one of his favourite dinosaurs – Spinosaurus.  The dinosaur even has a golden horn on its head, that’s a very imaginative dinosaur you have drawn for us.

In Ethan’s note he explained what a carnivore ate and named some carnivorous dinosaurs.  Ethan also described the diet of herbivorous dinosaurs and gave three examples of dinosaurs that ate plants, namely Stegosaurus, Triceratops and Brontosaurus.  He also helpfully explained that all these three dinosaurs lived in America, although Triceratops lived during the Cretaceous, whilst Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus lived earlier, in the Jurassic Period.

Our thanks to Ethan for his drawing and his detailed note.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

3 08, 2017

Surveyor Stumbles Across Dinosaur Bone

By |2023-08-08T20:57:04+01:00August 3rd, 2017|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

Plans for a Bike Trail in Colorado Disrupted by Dinosaur Find

Mountain biking trails in the rugged landscape close to the town of Grand Junction (Colorado), are big business, with keen cyclists from all over the United States taking to the trails.  However, plans to extend the range of courses available had to be halted when a surveyor discovered a boulder with a dinosaur fossil bone embedded within it.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), geologist Chris Pipkin had been undertaking a survey in a bid to identify new potential trackways when he spotted a large bone in a boulder.  The trail, named the Palisade Plunge Bike Trail had its unusual dinosaur visitor thanks to erosion.  It is likely that the boulder tumbled down from the cliffs that overlook this area of the single lane track.

Bureau of Land Management Staff Inspect the Boulder and the Fossil Bone

Dinosaur bone found on bike trail.

The dinosaur bone found on the mountain bike trail is inspected.

Picture credit BLM

Five Feet from the Bike Trail

The boulder came to rest just five feet (1.5 metres), from the bike trail and although cyclists could get past the obstruction, officials concluded that it would be in the best interests of all parties if the fossilised bone was removed.  The sixty-centimetre-long bone would weather away in just a few years if it were to be left at the site and being so prominent and obvious, it might attract the interest of unscrupulous fossil dealers who might be tempted to steal it.

BLM officials and local palaeontologists suspect that the fossil is a limb bone from a duck-billed dinosaur, although it is impossible to determine a genus from this single specimen.  More fossils may be found further up the trail in the cliffs.  The bone was extracted from the boulder and it has been sent to a local museum for further analysis.

The Fossil Bone is Carefully Prepared for Transport Away from the Mountain Bike Trail

Dinosaur fossil bone being removed.

BLM staff and volunteers carefully wrap the fossil in burlap and plaster.

Picture credit: BLM

Dinosaur Fossil Bone

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur, commented that the dinosaur fossil bone may have come from exposures related to the Mesa Verde Group.  Dinosaur fossils have been found in these rocks (sandstones and shales, laid down in a coastal, near shore environment) and the fossil, if it is confirmed as hadrosaurid, could represent a Gryposaurus

An Illustration of Gryposaurus (Scale Drawing)

Gryposaurus scale drawing.

A scale drawing of the duck-billed dinosaur Gryposaurus.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The image (above) is based on the Gryposaurus dinosaur figure from the Safari Ltd range.

To view this range: Wild Safari Prehistoric World Figures and Models.

The fossil material dates from the Campanian faunal stage of the Late Cretaceous and is described as being in “remarkably good shape”.

The Dinosaur Fossil Bone Could be a Limb bone from a Gryposaurus

Dinosaur bone found on mountain bike trail.

Limb bone from a hadrosaurid.

Picture credit: BLM

It is hoped that once fully prepared and stabilised, the fossil bone could be put on display at a Grand Junction museum.

To read an article about Upper Cretaceous hadrosaurid fossils being found by scientists prospecting for a location suitable for a Mars Rover robotic challenge: Dinosaur Fossils on Mars – Not Quite.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

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