Research on one of the best dinosaur graveyards in the world—the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States

The Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (150-145 million years old) extends from northern Montana to Arizona and New Mexico, preserving some of the best windows into this time period anywhere on Earth. Dinosaurs from these rocks are among the most recognizable and memorable ever discovered, filling fossil halls around the country and around the world, and include large carnivorous theropods like Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus, long-necked giant sauropods like Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, and Camarasaurus, and plated dinosaurs like Stegosaurus. Colorado sits among the best places to search for these Jurassic giants, with exposures of the Morrison Formation across the state, many hosting localities that have produced dinosaurs for more than a century.

In collaboration with many local scientists and collectors, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science paleontology teams have continued to unearth amazing new dinosaur skeletons from this important window into the evolution of western North America. This includes dinosaur discoveries from southeastern Colorado at Comanche National Grassland, northwestern Colorado outside of Dinosaur National Monument, central Colorado at the Garden Park Fossil Area near Cañon City, and as far afield as central Wyoming.

This project is funded by the Museum for America program at the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the United States Forest Service.

US Forest Service (2) IMLS Logo (2)

Field Work

man in a hat and sunglasses laying on the ground working on a fossil that is still embedded in teh earth
Holger in the Field
Two people sitting on the ground preparing the plaster for a field jacket with their hands covered in white plaster
Preparing a Fossil for Excavation
Many people working in a field site with buckets and tools scattered around and the preparation of field jackets
Active Field Site
Group of people working in a field site with power tools with dust in the air
Power Tools in the Field
Man in a teal shirt sitting in front of a field jacket with a large dinosuar fossil with various tools around him
Dinosaur Fossil in the Field
Four people excavate an active dinosaur quarry
Wyoming Field Work

Where We Are Working

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NORTHWESTERN COLORADO

 

Dinosaurs from northwestern Colorado include the iconic Denver Museum of Nature & Science Allosaurus, currently on display in the Museum's permanent Prehistoric Journey exhibition, and several important finds from the area currently under study in the earth sciences collections. Additional fieldwork in the region has focused on relocating past localities for future excavation and research.

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GARDEN PARK, COLORADO

 

Dinosaur fossils from the Garden Park Fossil Area north of Cañon City, Colorado, fill many of the large museums of the eastern United States and include many discoveries that were the first of their kind.  Spectacularly complete skeletons from the area, including the Kessler Stegosaurus currently on display in the Museum's permanent Prehistoric Journey exhibition and the small Stegosaurus collected by Museum scientists in the early 1990s, make this area an important source of historic information and new discoveries.

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COMANCHE NATIONAL GRASSLAND

 

Led by USDA Forest Service regional paleontologist Bruce Schumacher, important new discoveries of dinosaurs continue to be made in an area better known for Jurassic dinosaur tracks.  This includes a partial skeleton of a giant Apatosaurus under preparation and study at the Museum, among other dinosaur remains from the region.

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KAYCEE, WYOMING

 

Led by dinosaur collectors Chris Weege and David Schmude, numerous significant discoveries of sauropod dinosaurs, a small ornithopod dinosaur, and older marine ichthyosaurs have been made in recent years near the town of Kaycee, Wyoming.  Ongoing work and donations to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have significantly expanded our collections of Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs, with at least five skeletons currently being excavated and prepared.

Jurassic Giants Partners

A man kneels behind two sauropod bones in the ground.

Chris Weege

As the engineer of the team, Chris Weege naturally gravitates to excavation logistics, surveying, documenting, and fixing whatever breaks. Digging out massive sauropod bones requires digging equally giant holes in the ground and moving tons of rock by whatever means necessary ranging from air scribes to bulldozers. Currently, he focuses on the Jurassic aged Morrison Formation, mainly in central Wyoming.

A man lays down on the ground in front of a sauropod femur.

Dave Schmude

Dave Schmude has a master's degree in Geology with an emphasis on stratigraphy and sedimentology. In the past he has conducted research on the Jurassic geology of the Rocky Mountain Region. He has thirty years of experience in field collecting and preparing dinosaur fossils with current activity focused on the Jurassic aged Morrison Formation, mainly in central Wyoming.

A man is kneeling behind a seven-foot Apatosaurus scapula while looking at it.

Bruce Schumacher

In the preceding 20 years, Bruce Schumacher has conducted dinosaur excavations in a special management area called Picket Wire Canyonlands, a rugged river valley managed by the Comanche National Grassland/USDA Forest Service. A particularly rich find called the ‘Last Chance Quarry’ produced three intermingled partial skeletons of different sauropod dinosaurs including Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus and Diplodocus.  Recent preservation efforts by the Denver Museum will allow for many of these bones to be scanned and properly researched for the first time.