Sunday, June 12, 2011

Oh, look! Aren't they just adorable?...

Oh, well. I suppose not. But in their day, very effective.This is the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, a major source of fossil exhibits for museums around the world. There are many thousands of bones here, representing 70 individuals of 11 species, including more than forty Allosaurs.
The location of where every bone was found, color-coded by species, are on this chart. That's a lot of (veeeery careful) digging! This gives new meaning to the word 'meticulous.'
The star of the show, and a creature of great personality, is an assembled Allosaur.If you can even try to imagine being in the neighborhood when forty of these were hunting you won't sleep tonight. Apparently, they hunted in packs and could swarm and overwhelm larger dinosaurs.
When I look at these, I keep being reminded of big sharks and barracuda I have met. Very large barracuda develop thick brow ridges and massive lower jaws similar to these. Clearly, Mother Nature doesn't throw away good ideas.
This place is in the middle of nowhere in southern Utah, dirt road for many miles--but it is worth experiencing if only for that primordial dread it summons from deep within us. I mean, 'aren't they just adorable?'....
Of course, if you are Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Barosaurus or Camarasaurus, Immense, meaty plant-eaters, you were like the chum behind the shark boat. Barosaurus reached lengths of 70-80 feet--lot of tasty meat there. Diplodocus reached 90 feet, a very large sub sandwich indeed. Side of fries?

Off to Little Wild Horse Canyon tomorrow, deep in the San Rafael Swell. More adventures ahead! 

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