A Plesiosaur & More...

Dr. Storrs has just been given permission to unearth a Plesiosaur skeleton in Montana! A local rancher will allow Cincinnati Museum Center Field Crew to uncover and remove the Plesiosaur from his property to be prepped, studies and displayed in Cincinnati. Plesiosaurs were aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous. This carnivore currently is under a few inches of dirt and plant roots and is embedded in shale. In our Museum of Natural History & Science, there is a replica of a Plesiosaur skeleton, which can be found in our exhibit, Creatures of the Ancient Seas. I will ask a museum staff member to take a picture of the cast, so we can post it on the blog. We will bring the group out today to see our new fossil!

Officers from the Bureau of Land Management visited the Mother's Day site yesterday. They were given a tour of the quarry and photo documented the area. They also mentioned that they may install cameras around the site to monitor it in the off-seasons. Their office falls under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which issues our excavation permit every year. If our Plesiosaur happened to be on Federal land, we would also have permission from their office to remove it, for the Plesiosaur is located in the same county as our permit.

Today, is the last day our Week 1 participants will work in the quarry. There were sad looks at breakfast this morning, for most want to stay on and keep digging. For their last night in town, we will take them to a time honored Montana tradition...pig races!