10 Places You May Catch Paleontologists Digging Up Fossils

And even if you don't, you'll gaze on fossilized dinosaurs, rhinos and other reptiles in their natural context—instead of in a museum set piece















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Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry Image: Bureau of Land Management

In a remote part of Nevada, bones of giant prehistoric swimming reptiles harken back to when the arid region once sat on a coastline. Hundreds of miles away, in what is now Nebraska, volcanic ash buried more than 100 barrel-bodied rhinos some 12 million years ago. From Connecticut to Wyoming, dinosaur sites tantalize with clues of feeding frenzies and ancient trackways.

Many of the fossils excavated in the U.S. have been moved to urban museums, or at least to a nearby visitor center. But in some parts of the country, visitors can still see bones, tracks and other fossils where they've been unearthed, a fossilized snapshot dating from thousands to millions of years in the past. Even better, some of these spots feature paleontologists digging and dusting in the hunt for new specimens.

This slide show provides a visual sampler of excavation sites with fossils in situ, or left in their natural state. Frequently, the fossils are shielded from the weather and other elements by some kind of building or enclosure. Sometimes they are intact skeletons; other times they are scattered bones. Be sure to scout ahead before getting in the car, as accessibility may vary depending on the time of year.

View Slide Show of Paleontologists Digging Up Fossils



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  1. 1. cofu 01:05 PM 11/26/08

    # the Dynamic model of the globe has proved break Ms (a firm cork of the Earth ) and as  consequences a divergence of continents, in system weights Ms/magma/a nucleus of a planet-with parameters of axial rotation process of divergence of continents was transient ,after that have proceeded (10) cycles of III natural phenomenon ;DM has proved that present position
    Ms in the period bronze was short term sites of the schedule of type (b-b1-f),and a level of Ocean continuously changed from max to min marks; thus break Ms known under name Grand Canyon was formed during a divergence of continents or, that is less probable during (10) cycles
    of III natural phenomenon
    # on a question when there was break Ms, the DM allows to receive following answer: during process type (a1-a) at the area of an ice dome about 100 million in km2 for 20 thousand years the level of Ocean went down on 300 meters (as science underwater archaeology for given
    time cannot precisely define min a mark of Ocean in point (a) ,that having accepted average size
    of process (a1-a) ~35-40 thousand years we receive the answer: divergence Ms has taken place
    ~ 350-400 thousand years ), after that have proceeded (10) processes of type (a1-a) and (b-b1)
    consequences of these processes in territory of Europe and America very much differed
    # having taken into account above the listed feature which has proved DM it is possible to try to establish objectively when there was break Ms named Grand Canyon , thus it is necessary to take into account specificity of processes of type (a1-a) and (b-b1) which followed during the bronze period; the general for fiords Norway and Grand Canyon water polishing of granite fragments
    during (10) cycles of III natural phenomenon

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  2. 2. dltjddnr116 10:35 PM 12/11/08

    IT"S COOL!!

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
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