#Badlands Dinosaur Museum
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Liberty's cradle had to be trimmed three times so it'd fit in the scanner. Upon seeing the scans, the techs were taken aback at how little room there is for a brain - it's all nasal cavity, all the way up.
#liberty#lambeosaurus#badlands dinosaur museum#paleoblr#palaeontology#dinosaurs#science#paleontology#palaeoblr#fossils#fossil#hadrosaur#prehistoric#museum
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Here's one last Fossil Friday for 2023! Have you ever heard of Centrosaurus apertus? This dinosaur lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 75 million years ago. Unlike Triceratops, it had one large horn over its nose, small horns over the eyes, and a relatively short frill. This specimen was uncovered by famed Museum fossil hunter Barnum Brown in 1914 in the badlands along Canada's Red Deer River. He considered it to be the most complete specimen he had ever found, “in all details from the tip of the tail to the end of the nose.”
This photo was snapped circa 1956—and you can still see Centrosaurus up close in the Museum's Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs! Plan your visit.
Photo: Image no. 324095 / © AMNH Library
#amnh#museum#science#fossil#dinosaur#nature#natural history#animals#paleontology#triceratops#centrosaurus#ceratopsian#did you know#fact of the day#fossil friday#archives#flashback friday
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Hey, @t0tally-n0t-3m0, figured this might be easier to read as a post. Here's 24 pods with nonbinary lead characters to get you started. There's more out there, so if anyone wants to add on, go for it.
Additional Postage Required: (Sci-Fi) Adventures of an interstellar courier who starts to get glimpses of the past from their packages.
Anamnesis (on the Tin Can Audio feed): (Mystery, Weird Fiction) Someone wakes in a temple in an empty town with no memory. Short, really nice sound design.
Badlands Cola: (Mystery, Supernatural & Horror elements) big city PI Sunny is hired to find information on a rural cult leader, and is drawn into a world of strange radio, horse enthusiasts, and dinosaur bones.
The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio (one of two leads, you'll meet them halfway in): (Supernatural, Weird) Two workers for an Ohio dead letter office read the strange confiscated mail their organisation collects, and do some follow up investigation.
either: (Weird Fiction, Sci-Fi, Romance) An explosion at a duck factory sends a pet robot to another reality, connecting two very different (but both lonely) people.
Hello From The Hallowoods: (Supernatural Horror) A dramatic entity beyond your comprehension visits your nightmares to tell stories of the people (in varying degrees of human and alive) that inhabit the strange, deadly, and beautiful Hallowoods.
Inn Between: (Fantasy, Adventure) Ever wondered what the party gets up to at the tavern between D&D sessions? (Not a tabletop).
Jar of Rebuke: (Supernatural, Horror elements) An unkillable amnesiac scientist (they die, just have a hard time staying dead) investigates weird entities, makes friends, and eats a lot of tasty food in the strange town he lives in.
Khôra Podcast: (Sci-Fi, Adventure) Somewhere between inspired by and adapted from greek mythology, a space adventure following four mythological figures on their search for the golden fleece.
Less is Morgue: (Comedy, Horror elements) A ghoul and a ghost host a podcast about whatever they please in the ghoul's mom's basement, and manage to get off topic anyway.
Light Hearts: (Slice-of-Life, Supernatural elements) Three friends run a lightly haunted queer café. Upbeat and wholesome.
The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality: (Weird Fiction, Supernatural, Horror elements) A friendly AI tour guide leads you on a tour of the Mistholme Museum, explaining the strange and often alternatural story behind each item. (To be clear, the nb lead is an AI with no concept of gender, but the creator is NB also and it is far from the only nb character.)
Monstrous Agonies: (Advice, Supernatural) An interpersonal advice show for supernatural entities and other people living liminally in the modern world.
ROGUEMAKER: (Sci-fi, Whodunnit) A commercial space flight explodes and passengers are left isolated in the escape pods, only connected for minutes at a time and unsure what happened, or why.
Second Star to the Left: (Sci-Fi) Audio logs of a colonist sent to a new world and her communications with the minder in charge of keeping her alive.
Sidequesting: (Fantasy) A wholesome podcast following Rion, an adventurer with a difference: they only do sidequests.
SINKHOLE: (Sci-fi, Weird Fiction) Forum posts from a data restoration community in a near future where the human brain is its own computer and one city hosts a massive void.
Skyjacks: Courier's Call: (Tabletop, Fantasy) Three young postal workers aboard a skyship go on various adventures. Kid-friendly but enjoyable for all ages.
The Starport Inn: (Supernatural, Mystery) An FBI agent sent to a rural town to solve a disappearance finds they've walked into something much stranger.
The Supernatural Protection Agency: (Supernatural) Call logs for a helpline that aims to solve the supernatural problems plaguing your life.
Tell No Tales: (Supernatural, Horror elements) Leo Quinn, secretary to the man in charge of the world's leading ghost removal service, interviews various ghosts in an attempt to create a device capable of actually recording them, in the hopes of taking down the company they work for.
Trial and Error: (Sci-Fi) Interviews with various AI as a scientist attempts to make sense of spontaneous machine sentience.
Under the Electric Stars: (Sci-Fi) A courier's failed heist to help their AI friend/navigator pulls them into a world of crime organisations and unethical science.
The Weird: (Tabletop, Supernatural, Comedy, Horror elements) The two staff members at The Department of the Weird travel America in their shitty Ford Fiesta to investigate various strange happenings
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Fossil Novembirb 10: Bayou in the Badlands
Fluvioviridavis by @quetzalpali-art
Back to Eocene Ecosystems! One of the most famous Eocene fossil sites in the world is the Fossil Lake site of the Green River Formation, an ecosystem from Colorado in the United States. This ecosystem records the transition from the moist forested world of the early Eocene to the drier warm world of the mid-Eocene. The forests would begin to shrink back, the foliage would change, and so would the animals.
Fossil Lake records the start of that process! Sediment would regularly settle into this lake at periodic intervals, which then recorded the evolution of the lifeforms there over thousands of years. The forests were filled with sycamore trees and other broadleaf plants, as well as ferns.
Limnofregata by @iguanodont
Because the lake was so frequently filled with sediment, oxygen levels were low to nonexistent, preventing decomposers from living at the bottom of the lake. This lead to many different organisms being preserved nearly perfectly, including many gorgeous birds!
In fact, the Field Museum of Chicago - my home - has many of these wonderful fossils on display, and have fascinated me since childhood. So I'm going to break format a little here to showcase some of these fossils.
Cyrilavis, a Halcyornithid (Parrot-Passerine of Prey)
Fluvioviridavis, a Strisorian (like oilbirds or frogmouths)
Eofringillirostrum, a Passerine
Limnofregata, a Frigatebird in a Gull Niche
Nahmavis, a relative of shorebirds (Charadriiformes) or rails and cranes (Gruiformes)
An unnamed Anseriform, probably similar to Anachronornis
Celericolius, a mousebird
Zygodactylus, a stem-passerine
We see once again in this ecosystem - as we have in the others we've covered - the common theme of Avian evolution: the niches may stay the same, but the birds filling them will always change. We have Mousebirds perching in trees in North America, we have Frigatebirds filling the Gull niche, ducks wading around the lake like flamingos, and cousins of parrots/passerines hunting prey.
Presbyornis by @drawingwithdinosaurs
Other notable dinosaurs from this formation include Presbyornis, another one of those Flamingo-Ducks we've talked about like Teviornis and Conflicto; Gastornis because it was literally everywhere from the latest Paleocene through the early Eocene; Lithornithids like Pseudocrypturus because they were also everywhere; early landfowl like Gallinuloides; the cuckoo-roller Plesiocathartes; the ibis Vadaravis; and the turaco relative Foro. Once again, we see many tropical birds in places where they aren't today, due to the extensive warm climate of the Early Eocene.
Foro by @drawingwithdinosaurs
This swampy ecosystem was filled with large crocodile relatives, small mammals, the earliest known bats, giant lizards, and an alarming number of fish - making it one of the better known ecosystems of the early Paleogene. But the best known Paleogene fossil location is still to come...
Sources:
Grande, L. 2013. The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. University of Chicago Press.
Mayr, 2022. Paleogene Fossil Birds, 2nd Edition. Springer Cham.
Mayr, 2017. Avian Evolution: The Fossil Record of Birds and its Paleobiological Significance (TOPA Topics in Paleobiology). Wiley Blackwell.
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July 19 & 20. We left the Canadian Rockies and camped two nights in Alberta. It was a big change, with Rockies in the rearview mirror and never-ending praries on the horizon. A lunch stop at Ghost Lake. Many an abandonded prairie home dot the landscape. The first night we were near Drumheller & visited a world class Dinosaur museum and the Alberta Badlands (close cousins to the South Dakota Badlands). Second night in Medicine Hat. As it turns out, we are traveling thru Alberta when the canola fields are in bloom; a vibrant display in chartreuse.
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A New History of a Lost World
hmmm a new history — true enough, his narrative was and is new, but of a Lost World? Perhaps… but after reading his book you soon discover that it wasn’t truly lost after all, just buried and now uncovered it is that richly detailed.
If you’re curious enough to know more about the building blocks that allowed your existence, and/or know more about the gradual patterns of evolution especially when the words global warming are actually being felt across the globe, this book might be for you.
Oh and of course, dinosaurs!
With discoveries as fresh as the year this book was published.
side note:
Just one tiny flaw—
p. 172(in the hardcover book)
He mentions in the second paragraph, “To nobody’s surprise, Brown himself made some of the most important of these discoveries, most notably a mass graveyard of big tyrannosaurs in Alberta in 1910.”
Well, I am not arguing that Barnum Brown wasn’t an adventurous and notable paleontologist of his time but what I will argue is that the Author of this book, Steve Brusatte, failed to include that it was Joseph B. Tyrell that should have received that distinction. It was he who discovered the site and it was through his work that the Albertasaurus was discovered. A very gross oversight on the Author’s part.
In 1884, Joseph B. Tyrell, geological surveyor for the Government of Canada, lead a small group of explorers & cartographers into Alberta’s Badlands. There he made the discovery of his life: the remains of a dinosaur, the Albertasaurus.
Unfortunately he was DENIED RECOGNITION for this discovery at the time.
Today, the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada is named after him. He was not recognized for most of his achievements in his lifetime. (dino discovery included)
source: Historica Canada
It’s an interesting read in itself— he was a geologist, cartographer, mining consultant and historian. Just google Joseph Burr Tyrell.
youtube
Peace
#rise and fall of dinosaurs#global warming#natural history#clues#triassic#jurassic#cretaceous#evolutionary battlefield#fabric of the earth#earth#history#canada#🇨🇦#books#books and reading#books & libraries#book recommendations
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East Alberta: Elk Island and Drumheller
Before heading back to the Prairies, there were two more things I was excited about to explore in Alberta; Elk Island national park and Drumheller.
Elk Island was the first location where bison were reintroduced in Canada (after they had all been killed to force natives to live on reserves 😵); 20-30 animals that were brought from Montana where farmers had kept the last bison alive to prevent them going extinct... since then, the herd at Elk Island has grown so successfully that they've been translocated to other parks like Grasslands & Waterton where I've seen the majestic animals 🤗! Grasslands' herd is also a "bison exporter" to amongst others Indigenous communities so that they can rebuild their cultural ties to the animal, hence this is really a very successful conservation story! 🤩 Elk Island being the place where it all started, I had been excited to see bison here but no luck; on a 30-degree day they were hiding in the forest, I would too!
The lake stank of algae so I ended up going for a small hike, which according to the description would pass by some beaver dams & have a bit of steep terrain to a view of the rolling hills... I'm quite certain that I did do that hike, but I didn't encounter any of those 🥴 😅 and instead had a flat trail without any notable viewpoint nor dams... not sure where the disconnect was but disappointed by the park - probably it's more interesting in fall.
This meant that I had plenty of time to drive down to Drumheller where the famous Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology is located... I had initially thought of skipping it but as I now have spare time after cutting my BC travels short, I thought why not!
This drive was probably the straightest route I've ever driven.... apart from a few bends it was dead straight for kilometers on end, making it difficult to stay focused! I did have a true Canadian train passing by, where 200 wagons later you're finally allowed to cross the tracks. 😝 About 20 km north of Drumheller, the scenery changed abruptly from rolling green hills to yellow flat grasslands (including the return of nodding oil donkeys), until I drove down into the river valley and the badlands appeared.
First thing I saw when driving into town was the largest T Rex in the world together with his smaller child/cousin/other dino?? (I'm not really versed in the world of dinosaurs 😅) so couldn't avoid taking a selfie for my nephews whose world revolves around the creatures 😍.
Check-in at the airbnb was a breeze so showed up at the museum at 6.30pm which was perfect as the masses started to leave. I must say that I was at first a bit apprehensive about visiting, as I'm not that much into dinos but I was truly blown away!! 🤩 Yes, they feature extensively but the fossils that are displayed are extraordinary, and beyond that, the exhibit explains the story of evolution and life on earth in an easy-to-understand & attractive way, a great recap of my ecology course! In 2 hours, I probably skipped a third, not because it wasn't interesting but because I was really getting hungry. 🙃 Below are just a few impressions, this one got added to my favourites of this trip! 😍
Outside, the sun was setting over the badlands so they would have to wait until the next day... first order of business was to get some chips, veggies & dips and sit on the microbrewery's patio embracing the desert-like evening heat 😊... which I would hate a few hours later in a stuffed room where the airco was too loud to run. 😒
In the morning, it was decidedly cooler and cloudy, which was a welcome change after the last few hot days! Just south of the village, there's some imposing hoodoos that are still standing (despite children running & climbing everywhere 😮). After that it was one more look at the badlands (which is not my favourite landform, but prettier in contrast with the valley's green) and a derelict grain elevator, before driving east out of Alberta.
Wildlife: 1 gopher at Drumheller
SUPs: none
Hikes: one at Elk Island
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"...THE SKULL AND PELVIS PLACE IT IN THE TYRANNOSAUROID SUPERFAMILY. LIKE MANY OTHER THEROPODS, IT ALMOST CERTAINLY HAD FEATHERS."
PIC INFO: Resolution at 1387x1387x1913 -- Spotlight on the Guanlong wucaii, a small to mid-sized early tyrannosaur and a member of the family Proceratosauridae. Unlike your typical tyrannosaur, Guanlong wucaii had long arms and three-fingered hands for grabbing and ripping. But the shape of its teeth, and features in the skull and pelvis place it in the tyrannosauroid superfamily. Like many other theropods, it almost certainly had feathers. Artwork by William Stout, c. 2009.
Genus: Guanlong
Species: wucaii
Family: Proceratosauridae
Super Family: Tyrannosauroidea
Suborder: Theropoda
Order: Saurischia
Superorder: Dinosauria
Class: Reptilia
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Phylum: Chordata
Kingdom: Animalia
Pronounced GWON-long woo-kay-eye
INTRODUCTION: "Named from the Chinese words guan, meaning "crown," and long, meaning "dragon," in reference to its flashy head-crest, the most elaborate of any known theropod dinosaur. The species name comes from the Chinese word wucai meaning "five colours" and refers to the multi-hued rocks at Wucaiwan, the badlands where the fossils were found.
Guanlong wucaii is one of the most primitive tyrannosaurs known. It hunted its prey 95 million years before T. rex lived."
-- AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, Dinosaurs and their Relatives/Dinosaur Fact Sheets
Source: www.pinterest.com/pin/504614333230272954 & https://australian.museum/learn/dinosaurs/fact-sheets/guanlong-wucaii.
#Guanlong#CrownedDragon#Palaeoart#DinosaurArt#DinoArt#WilliamStoutArt#WilliamStout#FeatheredDinosaur#Tyrannosauroid#Theropod#Dinosaur#FeatheredDinosaurs#GuanlongWucaii#Dinosaurs#Wucaiwan#Tyrannosaur#TyrannosauroidSuperfamily#Watercolors#PrehistoricArt#Prehistoric#Prehistory
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This is a gas station at Cowboy Corner, just outside Badlands National Park, where we stayed. It is a very remote area. To prove that this indeed was a working gas pump and not a photo from a museum, I took a video of it in action. It was a classic unit, and for a minute a thought I was in the Twilight Zone and had been transported back in time. The 10′s counter was broken, so when I pumped $66.35 of gas, it read $6.35. I thought “WOW, this DOES really take you back!” Alas, the clerk inside had the correct amount. The dinosaur pump was hooked up to modern day electronics!
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Teehee c2x19
I love her & her little science experiment. I learned all about spatter patterns when I first got into Sherlock.
Aw, that’s what growing up is like. Or you can say “I need to come in late to help my daughter”
“I’ll be Fine without you!” *smashes tomato*
You should have gotten norman jessop to open the lock : (
I like how esposito is physically on beckett’s side but then moves to castle’s. Physicality representing the conversation.
I PAUSED THE VIDEO TO WRITE THAT LAST PARAGRAPH BUT OMG I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO HEAR THAT AS SOON AS I PLAYED IT AGAIN:
RC: Eat, pray, love. *talks about his deductions & conjectures,* Someone who wouldn’t be satisfied with just a casual relationship.
KB: & who’s to say that’s not his?
RC & JE: *give her a look*
KR walks in. Voice cracking slightly: Oh I love that book
JE & RC: *look at each other*
JE: *holds up his hand to say “forget it” to castle*
RC: They Have Dinosaurs There
That’s pretty much the best part about living where I live. We have a GREAT dinosaur museum just a couple hours away with a decent camping spot & badlands & hoodoos (not the religion) & coal & fossils & it’s just so cool.
Castle that is not your hat!? Why are you touching things that shouldn’t be touched & yanking on things that shouldn’t be yanked? (also the captions should totally have said that there were birds cawing & thunder crashing.) GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GLASS SHATTERING???
Of course it’s a curse. Ok bestie.
I mean speaking from an indigenous perspective, we knew things that were scientific but hadn’t been explained yet. Sage is one of our sacred medicines & science has proven it to be antimicrobial. You will be cursed with illness after opening the tomb because who knows what kinds of bacteria & microbes & pathogens & moulds are in there that could get you sick?
I am Not excited for this episode. Probably going to be good old racism, at the very least some non-explicit racism.
Ancient is such a debated word. https://www.tiktok.com/@diamond_dog74?lang=en has a video on how the word “ancient” is used. It’s like that saying, brits think 100 miles is a long way & americans think 100 years is a long time. https://www.tiktok.com/@diamond_dog74/video/7221754726608538926?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7229405114166281733 is the video I was actually thinking of. I think. See this is why it takes me three hours to watch a 45 minute episode
Holy crap I’m only at the second intro.
The boys definitely discussed it. They said “let’s pretend we’re getting dead ends because of castle’s curse it’ll be hilarious”
The movement is so good. Ryan pointing as Esposito talks.
I love a good familial superstition.
JE: Yeah, my abuela always said, “La mala suerte viene de tres en tres” (I have castle paused right now & from my background in french I’d say it means “the harm follows comes of three in three” aka “curses come in triplets”) (Wait he translated: bad luck always comes in threes. Mala suerte probs is bad luck then. Suerte does not mean “follow” as I thought.)
I said, we’re not celebrities, We spark & fade, they die by threes.
Not excited. Please no heavy racism, even if you must have eurocentrism. (Which you already have had.)
Why are the vikings romanticized & their human sacrifice ignored but the native americans demonized & it’s the only thing people talk about?
Ryan: Can I drive?
Esposito: No <3
*throws up a bit in my mouth*
Cacaw Te is so right. The deal was with a government not with the people who actually belong to the land & culture & tomb.
JE: We hit the jackpot with the girlfriend photos.
KB: ...He was sleeping with a mummy?
JE, nodding: Yeah *stops* --What?
Karma is not within your current lifetime.
They just got bomb disposal to.. make a flash bang in the coffee machine?
RC: I’m not cleaning this up!
RC a second later: ... I’d better clean this up
Stonehenge was just some people doing a ton of unnecessary work & deja vu is your brain short circuiting for a second. Isn’t it?
Macbeth is only bad if you say the name in a theater.
Hey we do the same thing at school! In my line cooking class we have a loop; a wall separates the prep area from the line. If someone says “it seems like a slow day” then you need to walk a lap around the line to break the jinx.
They’re so cute.
KR: He pulled the surveillance video, revealing this shining example of thuggery.
KB: Any idea who he is?
KR: *takes a deep breath & big smile* *turns to esposito*
KR: Do you want to?
JE: No bro, you caught it
KR: You sure?
JE: Yeah it’s yours, go ahead
KB & me: You know, whenever you guys are done being cute.
KB: Come on Castle, let’s go
RC, probably because of what happened during the bdsm episode: Can I drive?
KB: Are you kidding? You’re cursed!
I FORGOT ABOUT THIS PART! WITH THE DOG! I can’t believe they are still pranking him! Wait nvm it was just a normal dog. It looked like a police dog tho.
This is why I keep a safetypin on my at all times if I can help it. Always able to sort-of-kind-of fix your pants after being attacked by a dog.
I love how some random cop whistles as she passes castle with his pants ripped open.
Wait is she checking him out?
Wait it was a police dog nvm.
(”gypsy” is a slur btw)
Rewatching the scene with montgomery because it’s good. I mean you’re irish, the amount of curses & folklore? & then you, didn’t your abuela tell you not to mess with curses?
RC: Fill me in, spare no detail
KR: Well in some cultures, instead of burning--
RC: Fast forward a little bit
Ugh acab & like girl are you sure you won’t damage anything?
KR: We have a k-9 unit coming in to help
RC: *looks around frantically*
*Elecator stops*
*Things go bad*
*Elevator shifts & creaks*
RC: What am I supposed to do if the elevator falls, jump in the air? No! Lay on the ground!
(in the next scene)
Ding
*Elevator opens to castle starfishing facedown on the elevator floor*
& then the facial expressions of the cops behind him once he gets out
RC: & if her boyfriends get frisky you can shoot them
I love CT’s science stuff. Super interesting. & I like how he explains but rushes it to keep their attention
I love a good mortitian undertaker mortuary expert coroner whatever you call em.
Ruh roh.
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Royal Tyrrell Museum In Drumheller Alberta
The post Royal Tyrrell Museum In Drumheller Alberta appeared first on Gr8 Travel Tips. This Content Originally Appeared On And Is Copyright Protected By The Author at https://ift.tt/UuGKgOE
Post Last Modified – February 12, 2023 ¦ gr8traveltips.com The Royal Tyrrell Museum Of Palaeontology In Drumheller Come see real exhibits of prehistoric creatures that once roamed the land millions of years ago, at the 🦕 Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum in 🌹 Drumheller, Alberta – 🍁 Canada. This beautiful museum is situated in the {Canadian Badlands,} of the Province of Alberta. A magnificent museum displaying some of the world’s most precious findings of – 🦖 Dinosaurs ever found! Royal Tyrrell Museum is located on the very land where these […]
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Progress is being made on the tyrannosaur block! Steve is removing pounds of matrix to expose the neck of Tantalus/Denver's Tyranno/Little Denver (nickname debate ongoing) with the ZPT-BR (ZOIC Bronto). This dinosaur was found in the "death pose", meaning its neck is bent over its back. The top of the head should be near the hip region.
#i personally want it to be nicknamed Tantalus so it'd match the mythical figure theme and it simply goes hard#dinosaurs#paleontology#palaeontology#paleoblr#palaeoblr#badlands dinosaur museum#fossil#fossil preparation#tyrannosaur#Daspletosaurus#gorgosaurus#judith river formation#colleague prep#tantalus
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Rock formations called “Hoodoos” fill the Bisti De-Na-Zin Wilderness in northern New Mexico. The desert area is rich with fossils from dinosaurs and animals that lived here in ancient times. Photograph By Efrain Padro, Alamy Stock
These Dazzling Rock Formations Stand Where Dinosaurs Once Roamed
In the high desert of New Mexico, these sprawling badlands draw hikers and photographers with otherworldly “hoodoos” and a wealth of fossils.
— By Jennifer Barger | March 31, 2022
At first glance, the windblown sandstone landscape of the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness looks like the most desolate place on Earth, an inhospitable expanse of sky, sand, and oddly shaped rock formations called hoodoos.
But millions of years ago, these badlands, in what’s now northern New Mexico, were a coastal swamp in an inland sea, alive with large trees, reptiles, primitive mammals, and meat-chomping dinosaurs.
The Navajo (Diné)—whose lands intersect and border these 41,170 protected acres—gave the area its dual names: Bisti, meaning a “large area of shale hills,” and De-Na-Zin, from the word for “standing cranes.” The high desert plains surrounding the Bisti/De-Na-Zin are about 6,500 feet above sea level, though the badlands themselves sit 200 to 400 feet below that due to erosion.
Hikers will find many winged sandstone rock formations in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness in northern New Mexico. Photograph By Colin D. Young, Alamy Stock
To the Navajo and other Indigenous people, these lands served as a seasonal migration path, sacred grounds, and even a playground of sorts. “My cousins and I would come out here and camp and explore,” says Kialo Winters, founder of Navajo Tours USA, which leads guided trips through the wilderness. “It was a great place for hide-and-go-seek.”
It took millennia for lush wetlands to turn into these otherworldly high desert badlands, where eroded sandstone features can resemble mushrooms, towering chess pieces, or even fried eggs. Here’s how they were formed, what to look for, and how to explore this delicate region without damaging it.
A Fertile, ‘Beast’-Filled Past
Millions of years of erosion formed Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti is pronounced bis-tie) in this corner of the San Juan Basin. Once covered in swamps and deltas of the Western Interior Seaway, the area was filled with sediments and organic materials in prehistoric times. At some point, a volcanic eruption blanketed everything in ash. As the sea began to recede about 50 million years ago, dinosaurs, reptiles, and other animals thrived in the wetlands along the resulting riverbeds.
Eventually, the water disappeared entirely, leaving behind embedded layers of sandstone, mudstone, shale, and coal, which were all uplifted with the Colorado Plateau starting around 6,000 years ago. Shortly after that, the last ice age receded, and the waters of its melting glaciers carved away the rock. This formed its distinctive hoodoos and exposed Bisti’s wealth of fossils and petrified wood.
“We know from fossil plants and woods that this was once a jungle with lots of dinosaurs,” professor Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque. “When animals died here, they would have quickly been buried in sand and mud that preserved them.”
The “Bisti Beast,” a 70-million-year-old fossil skull of a species of tyrannosaur, was discovered in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness. It is now on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque. Photograph By Marla Brose, Albuquerque Journal/Zuma Wire/Alamy Stock Photo
Scientists have discovered and excavated numerous fossils here in the protected wilderness, which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior responsible for safeguarding pristine natural areas set aside by the government.
The animals that once roamed these lands include duckbill dinosaurs, ancient turtles, and the “Bisti Beast.” The last, found by a volunteer in 1997, is a 29-foot-long (9-meter-long) “destroyer” dinosaur, a primitive relative of the T. rex. Now on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, Bistahieversor sealeyi was eventually ruled an entirely new species.
Exploring the Badlands
While scientists might come to Bisti to dig for dinos, travelers are lured by the area’s rock formations, those undulating, seemingly abstract forms that create a landscape that resembles both the surface of the moon and a Looney Tunes Wild West backdrop. They’re catnip for nature photographers toting tripods or smartphones.
Shaped by wind and erosion, these spires and hoodoos range from a few feet tall to two stories high. (The term “hoodoo” may come from the Caribbean African “voodoo,” a nod to the formations’ bewitching shapes.)
Top: Nicknamed the “cracked eggs,” these stone formations in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness are popular with photographers. Photograph By Design Pics Inc., Alamy Stock Bottom: A winged hoodoo in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin badlands was formed by millions of years of erosion. Photograph By Jeremy Woodhouse, Getty Images
Some hoodoos are winglike; others resemble hatching eggs. “The erosional features are quite amazing, like natural art forms,” says Lucas. They can be found around “washes”—remnants of those ancient riverbeds—beginning about a mile hike in from either of the two access points to the wilderness area. Both entrances are located less than an hour drive south of Farmington, New Mexico, or an hour-and-a-half drive south of Durango, Colorado.
Due to the delicate nature of the ground and potential damage to the hoodoos, the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness can only be explored on foot or horseback.
“Be mindful to step only on firm ground,” says Winters. “The softer ‘feathered’ ground near the bases of hoodoos represents ongoing natural erosion, and you don’t want to disturb their balance.” Besides keeping your distance from the ground near hoodoos, it’s imperative not to touch them or other ancient fossils like petrified wood or shells.
While dinosaurs haven’t roamed here for about 65 million years, these badlands are surprisingly rich in wildlife, especially birds. You can spot golden eagles, towhees, and ravens in the stark desert skies or jackrabbits and cottontails amid the sand and scrub grass. At night, campers might see coyotes or, more rarely, a giant desert centipede (Scolopendra heros) which can grow up to eight inches long.
The vastness of this wilderness and the no-wheeled-vehicles rule means hikers, horseback riders, and primitive campers often have this BLM land nearly to themselves. There are no marked hiking paths from either of the entrance points to the wilderness, meaning visitors experience nature in a more freeform, less-managed way.
Unfortunately, that also means it’s easy to get lost. Some navigational skills or a guide can help in areas where phone signals are scarce. When exploring here, BLM recommends using a smartphone app or GPS device with a topographic map loaded ahead of your visit.
It’s a good idea to pack a backup of either paper maps and a compass or a second smartphone with maps loaded. BLM New Mexico has created hunting/recreation maps that can be downloaded and used with the free CarryMap App. Topographic maps can also be downloaded.
The high altitude of these desert plains means summer days can be hot and winter nights cold (and sometimes, snowy). This makes spring and fall ideal times to visit, and sunblock, sun hats, and lots of water necessary no matter the season.
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4 of the Best Hotels for Visiting Dickinson, ND
If you’re taking a vacation in or around Dickinson, ND, you’ll discover fantastic hotels, accommodations, and bed and breakfast inns during your next trip. There are plenty of fantastic attractions, shopping, and dining to explore in the Dickinson area when you visit the area in your Chevrolet Silverado.
1. Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham
You’ll find this casual hotel off of Interstate 95, conveniently near local attractions, including the Dakota Dinosaur Museum. Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham offers comfortable rooms with coffeemakers, free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, microwaves, and microwaves. You can upgrade your suite to include other features, including separate sitting areas and available great family rates.
Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham offers a complimentary breakfast buffet every morning and excellent amenities, including a fitness room, a heated indoor pool, a whirlpool, and free parking.
2. Astoria Hotel & Event Center
Astoria Hotel & Event Center is a great place to stay for your next business conference, weekend getaway, or family vacation. This hotel is conveniently close to downtown and located by the Prairie Hills Mall and Interstate Highway 94. You’ll find that the suites provide everything you need for a comfortable experience, including flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, coffeemakers, minifridges, work desks, and microwaves.
There are also upgraded rooms that offer separate living spaces, kitchenettes, and Jacuzzi tubs. You’ll have access to free parking, continental breakfast, an on-site lounge with a bar and pool table, an indoor swimming pool, fitness center, hot tub, and business center. Astoria Hotel & Event Center is also a fantastic venue to book corporate meetings and events, with over 15,000 square feet of space. Please drink responsibly.
3. Heritage Hotel
This family-friendly inn offers excellent amenities during your stay, whether booking a room for a weekend visit or a family vacation. Heritage Hotel is a fully accessible hotel with guest laundry services, a business center, fitness room, parking, and facilities for corporate meetings. You’ll enjoy excellent features in your suite, including a flat-screen TV, free Wi-Fi, comfortable bedding and furniture, and a late check-out option.
Heritage Hotel is pet-friendly and smoke-free, with staff available on site 24 hours, an outdoor patio, hot tub, and swimming pool.
4. Badlands Inn & Suites
Badlands Inn & Suites is a casual hotel that offers all the amenities you need for your next business trip or weekend with friends or family. This inn is short of the Dickson Museum Center, Patterson Lake Recreation Area, and close to many dining and shopping options. Every suite offers comfortable furniture, flat-screen TVs, microwaves, and minifridges. There is also free Wi-Fi, parking, a fitness center, laundry facilities, and a lounge.
When you plan your next visit to the Dickinson area, you’ll find great accommodations with exceptional service, amenities, and convenient locations. Come see us at Sax Motor Company and discover what we have to offer you from our fantastic showroom of new and pre-owned vehicles, financing options, and maintenance plans today.
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'Frightful' never-before-seen tyrannosaur might be the 'missing link' in T. rex evolution
New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/wqkt
'Frightful' never-before-seen tyrannosaur might be the 'missing link' in T. rex evolution
A reconstruction of what the new tyrannosaur, Daspletosaurus wilsoni, may have looked like. Fossils suggest that it had unique arrangement of spiked hornlets surrounding its eyes. (Image credit: Andrey Atuchin & Badlands Dinosaur Museum) (opens in new tab) Paleontologists have uncovered the remains of a never-before-seen tyrannosaur that was possibly a direct ancestor of the […]
See full article at https://petn.ws/wqkt
#ReptileNews
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I Know Dino Podcast Show Notes: Nedoceratops (Episode 219)
Episode 219 is here with Liz Freedman Fowler and @df9465. We also have a new sauropod and #dinosaur of the day Nedoceratops.
Episode 219 is all about Nedoceratops, the lesser known ceratopsian in the Triceratops vs Torosaurus debate.
We also interview Denver Fowler & Liz Freedman Fowler, paleontologists who work at the Badlands Dinosaur Museum. Denver is the curator. Liz is an Associate Professor of Biology at Dickinson State University. They have worked on a nodosaur, tyrannosaur, ceratopsians, hadrosaurs, and…
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#Badlands Dinosaur Museum#ceratopsian#Cretaceous#Dead Sound#Denver Fowler#Diceratops#Diceratus#dinosaur#dinosaur of the day#dinosaurs#hadrosaur#hatcheri#histology#humans#i know dino#Jurassic#Liz Freedman-Fowler#maiasaura#Mesozoic#Nedoceratops#nodosaur#podcast#rex#rule#sauropod#Science Center#Sharp Teeth#t-rex#Tanzania#torosaurus
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