Dinosaur on Display

Slowly...but surely the pieces are being revealed. The North Dakota Heritage Center has been cal...  More »

Slowly...but surely the pieces are being revealed. The North Dakota Heritage Center has been called the Hub of History. Reporter Ashley McMillan tells us about another display at the center that is gaining nationwide popularity. It's been ten years in the making. (Dr. John Hoganson/State Paleontologist) We haven't had it here in Bismarck for very long so we're very excited about the opening today so that people can actually come see this fossil. Today at the Heritage center the ribbon was cut. Now visitors are getting take their first look at the newest addition to history. There's only a few of these kinds of these fossils found in the world really. The Edmontosaurus named Dakota is a duckbilled dinosaur. It was found in western North Dakota and had been under the soil for almost 70 million years. Tyler Lyson found this fossil actually when he was a sophomore in high school and he was exploring for fossils on his uncles property near Marmarth and found part of the skeleton sticking out of the ground. A team of four put in well over 500 hours removing rock from between bones and preparing the skeleton for display. We do know that the fossil, the carcass of the animal would to have been buried very quickly and covered with sediment for it to be preserved like this. Theres very few places, no where around here that you would be able to see a fossil like this, other than the heritage center. Tattoos of the dinosaurs skin were given out as visitors came in and presentations were made by paleontologists and scientists from around the world...as Dakota the Dinosaur was unveiled. I knew this was, of course, a very significant fossil and I first saw it when it was still in the field it hadn't been taken out of the field yet. It arrived here at the heritage center in February for preparation and display here. In Bismarck, Ashley McMillan, KX News. The Dinosaur exhibit is near the museum's main gallery entrance. The display inclues one arm and the tail section.  « Less