Grand Junction, Colo. — Several recent paleontological discoveries at the Mygatt-Moore Quarry, located in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (NCA), may give paleontologists a new understanding of the appearance of dinosaurs living during the late Jurassic period and the environment where these animals lived and eventually perished.
Volunteers with the Museum of Western Colorado [...]
We are long over due to update those who are interested in the progress of our large jacket that was pulled out this past summer from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry. Our volunteer, Dorothy, has been hard at work preparing the jacket and has uncovered all of the large rib that was contained in the jacket, along with [...]
On August 19th the Museum’s expeditions crew removed a large jacket containing the remains of a Apatosaurus vertebra and at least 3 (maybe up to 6!) ribs from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry. A backhoe from the City of Fruita was donated for the morning to help us remove this very large piece from the ground. The jacket separated from the ground successfully and is currently being [...]
It is officially dig season at the Mygatt-Moore Quarry! Our first dig was on May 25th and went very well. Dinosaur Journey volunteer and castmaker Dorothy found an Allosaurus tooth tip - our first of the year! On June 4th a beautiful Diplodocus tooth with wear facets on two sides was found in the quarry. This was the first [...]
Fruitadens, the Smallest Plant Eating Dinosaur in the World!
A small but excited crowd was given the pleasure of being the first to see Fruitadens today at Dinosaur Journey.
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, Fruitadens is the latest sensation in the Grand Valley. Discovered in 1976 by George Callison, Fruitadens is the smallest plant [...]
This exhibit features a life-size, fleshed-out reconstruction of Fruitadens, one of the smallest adult dinosaurs in the world, found right here in the Grand Valley in 1976 by paleontologist (and Grand Junction resident) George Callison. Tiny adult dinosaurs are rare, and even more rare are plant-eating dinosaurs that weighed less than a house cat. Among [...]
Dinosaur fans give museum welcome boost in ‘09 visitation
Fifteen months ago, the administrators in charge of Dinosaur Journey were as desperate and distraught as a Tyrannosaurus rex roaming a land filled only with ferns and cycads.
The mechanical components of the Fruita museum’s dinosaurs that allowed them to spit, hiss and growl were breaking down. The [...]
This year ReBecca Hunt, with the help of John Foster, Don Kerven and Gaylon Reynolds, constructed and decorated the Museum’s float for Grand Junction Parade of Lights. Our float consisted of four local dinosaurs (Brachiosaurus, Mymoorapelta, Ceratosaurus and a pterosaur) celebrating Christmas by decorating their palm tree and opening presents. These dinos were constructed from [...]
NBC news has a short video on the renovations at Dinosaur Journey thanks to a grant from the Lions Club. Watch it here.
Day one: During our first day we traveled through Colorado National Monument and became acquainted with some of the local geology, similar to what we would see once we arrived in Moab. We also took a trip out to Cactus Park to see a Jurassic dinosaur track site, where dinosaurs walked on a wet, sandy [...]