2009 Summer Dinosaur Digs
Come and dig with us this summer. We are currently excavating a site that has many different research activities going on. The site has numerous dinosaur bone and other fossils from the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. The site has produced bones and/or teeth from Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, Nanotyrannus, Leptoceratops, Saurornitholestes, Ankylosaur, Aublysodon, mammals, crocodiles, and much more. This is a great educational opportunity.
Dates (limited to 10 people/week):
June 15-19 July 13-17 Aug 3-7 Aug 24-28
June 22-26 July 20-24 Aug 10-14 Sept 7-11
July 6-10 July 27-31 Aug 17-21 Sept 14-18
Participation is open to individuals interested in the field of paleontology, education and field work in paleontology. Participants must be 18 years of age or accompanied by parent(s) or guardian. Parent(s) or guardian will at all times be responsible for their children. Neither the field leadership, nor the other participants, will at any time be responsible for the parenting responsibilities for those participants under the age of 18.
The cost to participate in the week long event will be $1000 per attendee, a deposit of $500 for each applicant must be submitted with the application no later than May 15 for June, June 1 for July, June 15 for August, and July 15 for September to guarantee a spot and NO pre-registration deposit will be returned after this date for your chosen week. Final payment must accompany the participants and be payable in full upon arrival. Once the week of activities has commenced, no refunds will be issued to participants. Please email any questions to info@dinosandmore.com or call 701-277-0809 (cell 701-226-9622).
Transportation to and from the Hoover, South Dakota to attend this event is the responsibility of each attendee. Arrival time should be after 4 pm MST on the Sunday of your planned week. Arrangements can be made for travel with the Fargo, ND group but there is limited space available. The registration will cover the costs of food, water, living facility, landowner fees, tools, some basic first aid materials and sunscreen, other materials, and equipment necessary for the type of fieldwork being undertaken.
The activities of these events will involve intense scientific study within west central South Dakota. This is not a “grab and go” kind of activity. All materials are collected and studied and owned by the field leadership and no materials are to be removed from the sites without proper consent of the field leaders. The study area is rugged and contains possible hazards. All participants must complete the Waiver of Liability Statement and submit it along with the completed Registration Form and pre-registration funds to become fully registered. We recommend you bring eyeglasses to the field instead of contacts as some days the area is windy and the dust and sand can blow quite a bit.
Important information for Field Participants
Items to bring to the field:
- Work clothes (Things get pretty dirty and weather changes are unpredictable. Recommended: long and short sleeved cotton shirts and long pants for field work; shorts are okay for free time and, if you wish (though it may not be advisable), for field work.)
- Boots and good socks for field work (sneakers should not be worn in the field!)
- A hat, preferably with a wide brim for sun protection
- Sunglasses, optional, but strongly recommended for UV protection
- Gloves for hand protection
- Personal toiletry articles, soap, shampoo, medications, etc
- Camera
- Notebook and any reading material you like
- Sunscreen, Chap Stick, insect repellant are available but you may have your own personal preferences for those items
- If you are very sensitive to dusty conditions you may require a respirator
- Basic medical materials are available (bandages, gauze, etc.) but if you feel you want more you can bring some of those materials with you and you will be responsible for your personal medical needs
- Alarm clock
- Backpack or book bag
- An iPod or personal CD or tape player (optional)
A washer and dryer are available where you will be staying. Detergent will be available but if you have a preference you can bring some of your own.
The house will have all of the bedding, towels and wash clothes you will need.
Please bring emergency contact information with you.
Cell phones are hit and miss in the area depending on your provider. The house may or may not have phone service but the store does so you may be able to use a phone card to make calls but only for quick calls.
Onsite, the bathroom facilities are “one with nature”. There are designated areas for people to do their business and we try to give you your privacy for that.
Many things are out of our control from weather to animals but we try to prepare you for all of the situations so you are ready for them ahead of time. Things you have control of are your clothing, protection from the sun and bugs, and knowing your own physical limitations. We want you to experience everything in a safe, fun, and educational way. This will last you a lifetime. How many people can say they got to dig dinosaur bones?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
What's in a Name? Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus rex (Part 1)
One of the most popular dinosaurs to ever be discovered is Tyrannosaurus rex. A list of discoveries of T. rex specimens has been published in a book. The list includes significant T. rex finds from historic to completeness. A lot of parts and pieces are found for T. rex but most aren’t considered significant. We find numerous teeth but they won’t make the list of specimens. So, what does it take to make the list?
History
In the late 1800s and early 1900s there weren’t many dinosaurs known so everything was considered significant for the study of dinosaurs. As more complete fossils were found, individual bones and teeth that were found were not considered as significant because there was already enough known information available about most or all of the individual parts that were being found. Some of those earliest pieces are still considered important now more for their history than their science.
The earliest T. rex specimens were dug by Barnum Brown in the early 1900s for the American Museum of Natural History. He is credited with discovering and digging 5 T. rexes (though 2 were just based of several bones). In 1902 and 1905 he dug out 2 and in 1908 he dug up what would be the best T. rex skeleton of that time.
Naming – What Might Have Been
Henry Osborn, from the American Museum of Natural History, formally named Tyrannosaurus rex in 1905. There are a set of guidelines that must be followed in order for a scientific name to be valid. One rule is, “He who names it first has priority over any other names given to a specimen”. It doesn’t sound like that should be a problem but it sure has been and it could have been for T. rex.
There were lots of things collected that were totally unknown so the unknown things were stored for a later date. Some things were known but they were not correlated to any other known materials so some of the information was lost until later. Some things are put to print quickly so that no one else can claim the rights to naming something and whichever name reaches print first will have priority. What do these things have to do with T. rex?
Recently, a bone was found in a museum that was identified as a T. rex bone. Because it was an unknown bone it was stored away for future reference. That was in 1874.
Edward Drinker Cope described two very fragmented neck vertebrae and named the dinosaur Manospondylus gigas in 1892. It was not clear that these vertebrae were from a T. rex until the year 2000 when that dig site was revisited and more bones were found.
In 1905 when Osborn named T. rex in his paper, he also named the other specimen from 1902 that Brown had collected as Dynamosaurus imperiosus. Had these pages been printed early in the paper, this would have become the official name for the T. rex but the paper started off with the T. rex specimen so that is the name that is and has been used.
Naming rule changes in 2000 allowed Tyrannosaurus rex to remain the official name.
To be continued….
One of the most popular dinosaurs to ever be discovered is Tyrannosaurus rex. A list of discoveries of T. rex specimens has been published in a book. The list includes significant T. rex finds from historic to completeness. A lot of parts and pieces are found for T. rex but most aren’t considered significant. We find numerous teeth but they won’t make the list of specimens. So, what does it take to make the list?
History
In the late 1800s and early 1900s there weren’t many dinosaurs known so everything was considered significant for the study of dinosaurs. As more complete fossils were found, individual bones and teeth that were found were not considered as significant because there was already enough known information available about most or all of the individual parts that were being found. Some of those earliest pieces are still considered important now more for their history than their science.
The earliest T. rex specimens were dug by Barnum Brown in the early 1900s for the American Museum of Natural History. He is credited with discovering and digging 5 T. rexes (though 2 were just based of several bones). In 1902 and 1905 he dug out 2 and in 1908 he dug up what would be the best T. rex skeleton of that time.
Naming – What Might Have Been
Henry Osborn, from the American Museum of Natural History, formally named Tyrannosaurus rex in 1905. There are a set of guidelines that must be followed in order for a scientific name to be valid. One rule is, “He who names it first has priority over any other names given to a specimen”. It doesn’t sound like that should be a problem but it sure has been and it could have been for T. rex.
There were lots of things collected that were totally unknown so the unknown things were stored for a later date. Some things were known but they were not correlated to any other known materials so some of the information was lost until later. Some things are put to print quickly so that no one else can claim the rights to naming something and whichever name reaches print first will have priority. What do these things have to do with T. rex?
Recently, a bone was found in a museum that was identified as a T. rex bone. Because it was an unknown bone it was stored away for future reference. That was in 1874.
Edward Drinker Cope described two very fragmented neck vertebrae and named the dinosaur Manospondylus gigas in 1892. It was not clear that these vertebrae were from a T. rex until the year 2000 when that dig site was revisited and more bones were found.
In 1905 when Osborn named T. rex in his paper, he also named the other specimen from 1902 that Brown had collected as Dynamosaurus imperiosus. Had these pages been printed early in the paper, this would have become the official name for the T. rex but the paper started off with the T. rex specimen so that is the name that is and has been used.
Naming rule changes in 2000 allowed Tyrannosaurus rex to remain the official name.
To be continued….
Help for the Museum
I'll post some really interesting information shortly.
Someone told me to give this a try because it has worked for others.
I am the director of the Discover Museum in West Fargo, ND. It is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Corporation. Like everything and everywhere today, money is tight. Unlike many museums, the Discover Museum functions very well on a very little. Our monthly expenses are around $2000 which has made it very easy to keep going.
Now, I’m asking for some assistance from the people. We want to do more with the museum as an educational facility and get a few new items to enhance the existing displays. We also need to raise some money so we can “Raise the Rex”. We have a cast of a T. rex and it is currently laid out on the floor of the museum. Once we have enough money, we will build it here in the museum. That’ll be really cool once it’s done.
Here I ask for help. We need to have money so we can grow and perhaps even relocate and I’m turning to blogging as a way to see what is out there. If you would like to help, we would really appreciate it. You can send a check, money order, or cashiers check to: Discover Museum, 705 Main Ave E, Suite C, West Fargo, ND 58078. You can check out the website (needs updating) at http://www.dinosandmore.com/. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes if the donation is high enough and a letter thanking you for your support of our museum.
I’ll keep updates on the blog and keep everyone informed of our progress and if we get the T rex built I’ll post pictures for all to see.
A deep-hearted thank you to all.
Gary
Someone told me to give this a try because it has worked for others.
I am the director of the Discover Museum in West Fargo, ND. It is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Corporation. Like everything and everywhere today, money is tight. Unlike many museums, the Discover Museum functions very well on a very little. Our monthly expenses are around $2000 which has made it very easy to keep going.
Now, I’m asking for some assistance from the people. We want to do more with the museum as an educational facility and get a few new items to enhance the existing displays. We also need to raise some money so we can “Raise the Rex”. We have a cast of a T. rex and it is currently laid out on the floor of the museum. Once we have enough money, we will build it here in the museum. That’ll be really cool once it’s done.
Here I ask for help. We need to have money so we can grow and perhaps even relocate and I’m turning to blogging as a way to see what is out there. If you would like to help, we would really appreciate it. You can send a check, money order, or cashiers check to: Discover Museum, 705 Main Ave E, Suite C, West Fargo, ND 58078. You can check out the website (needs updating) at http://www.dinosandmore.com/. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes if the donation is high enough and a letter thanking you for your support of our museum.
I’ll keep updates on the blog and keep everyone informed of our progress and if we get the T rex built I’ll post pictures for all to see.
A deep-hearted thank you to all.
Gary
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About Me
- Dinoguy
- West Fargo, North Dakota, United States
- I've always been interested in science. I taught science for 10+ years. I've been digging up fossils like dinosaurs for 14+ years. I opened a nonprofit museum to share my knowledge and excitement with more people.