Major Jurassic Dinosaur Find Announced

After only three weeks of excavation, the quarry yielded four long-necked sauropods, two carnivorous dinosaurs and a possible herbivorous Stegosaurus.

A major dinosaur fossil discovery has been announced in southeastern Utah. Currently identified as the Hanksville-Burpee Quarry, the area is located in a preserved river channel and contains the fossilized remains of multiple dinosaur skeletons, animal burrows and large petrified tree trunks.

Recently excavated by a team from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, IL, the site is similar in age to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Price. It is believed to be 145-150 million years old, falling at the end of the Jurassic Period, which was the middle period of the Mesozoic era or “Age of Reptiles.” After only three weeks of excavation, the quarry has yielded at least four long-necked sauropods, two carnivorous dinosaurs and a possible herbivorous Stegosaurus.

Although the area was known to the Bureau of Land Management Utah and the local community for many years, recent in-depth investigation and excavation efforts by the Burpee Museum have revealed its true magnitude. The Hanksville-Burpee Quarry site will be closed on Friday, June 20, 2008, and will remain closed until next summer when an excavation team from the Burpee Museum will return to continue work.

In addition to a planned Environmental Assessment for the area, the bureau and the museum are working together to develop long-term research initiatives and interpretive plans to provide for educational and recreational opportunities in coming years.