In my high school and undergrad years I did a lot of paleontological work at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. In the late summer of 2003, I and my colleagues came across the skull and claw of a large Allosaurus. Over the next year we managed to pull back a lot of rocks to help reveal a well-preserved couple of Allosaurs commingled together.
What was fancy about this site was just how weird it was. Normally, when one is working in the Morrison Formation, the dinosaurs you find are the vertebrae, ribs, and limb bones of giant sauropods. Occasionally, you will find Allosaur teeth mixed in as the result of feeding. However, our Allosaur site was the exact opposite of this. We found Allosaur cranial (read: skull), claws, and finger/toe bones. We even found sauropod teeth mixed in! While we don't think the vegetarians had a change of heart, it underscored just how weird this site was.
What was fancy about this site was just how weird it was. Normally, when one is working in the Morrison Formation, the dinosaurs you find are the vertebrae, ribs, and limb bones of giant sauropods. Occasionally, you will find Allosaur teeth mixed in as the result of feeding. However, our Allosaur site was the exact opposite of this. We found Allosaur cranial (read: skull), claws, and finger/toe bones. We even found sauropod teeth mixed in! While we don't think the vegetarians had a change of heart, it underscored just how weird this site was.
In the summer of 2011, I revisited the site and saw the incredible amount of preparation work done to get the specimen ready for research. We know that there are at least two Allosaurs present at the site based on two left fontals and two left premaxilae. However, if some recent finds are any indication, there may be a lot more. Check back here soon - ok, probably 2-3 years - for updates. Sorry! Paleontology is slow.
