Dinosaur Discoveries in Morrison, Colorado.
In and around the tiny foothills town of Morrison, the bones of ancient giants were discovered and exhumed. Starting in the spring of 1877, Arthur Lakes and John Beckwith stumbled upon a treasure trove of Jurassic giants. The first specimens ever discovered of the dinosaurs Apatosaurus ("Brontosaurus") and Stegosaurus as well as the crocodilian Goniopholis were found. Digging was difficult and dangerous. As fossils were found, they were crated and shipped to O. C. Marsh of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut. Exploration for Morrison’s Jurassic dinosaurs ceased in May 1879 as Lakes was ordered by Marsh to relocate to Como Bluff, Wyoming to assist in excavations there.
During the Great Depression, workers uncovered younger traces of Denver's Dinosaurs. Dating back to the dawn of the Late Cretaceous, some 100 million years ago, footprints of early duckbilled dinosaurs and their predators still can be seen on an ancient beach at the shore of an inland seaway. Through the 1990s and beyond, Martin Lockley and other workers intensively studied the tracks and concluded that they were a part of a migratory route.
In 2003, the Morrison Natural History Museum founded the Ajax Discovery Project to continue the work of Lakes and Beckwith. Led by Robert Bakker and Matthew Mossbrucker, the aim of the Project is to develop a better understanding of the Jurassic life and landscape of Morrison, Colorado. So far, crews have discovered two new Jurassic tracksites and gained a greater understanding of the terrain and climate of the area. Footprints of adult and infant dinosaurs, crocodilians, and pterosaurs have been found in the sand of an ancient river. Exploration continues.
First hatchling Stegosaurus tracks discovered by Morrison Museum.
(above) Hatchling Stegosaurus hindpaw track, only 37mm wide. Photo copyright Matthew Mossbrucker.
(above) Adult Stegosaurus tracks. Width of hindpaw track (bottom of photo) is 370mm. Photo copyright Chris Stark. Diagram copyright Robert Bakker.
Click here to learn more about the discovery of the Stegosaurus footprints in 2006.
Click here to learn more about the discovery of the baby footprints in the Denver Post.
Click here to link to the news release about the baby dinosaur tracks.
Click here to link to the 9news.com feature on the find.
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