Dinosaur returns home
FARGO, N.D. (AP) - January 28, 2008 The 65-million-year-old fossilized hadrosaur found in North
Dakota's Badlands a decade ago has been studied by paleontologists,
had its innards scanned by NASA and starred in a National
Geographic television documentary.
The dinosaur, expected to arrive Friday in a big truck, will be
ready for public display in the State Historical Society of North
Dakota in Bismarck in early June.
The body portion weighs 8,000 pounds, and another portion weighs
1,500 pounds, including the tail. A third part, including a leg, is
much smaller.
Unlike most collections of bones found in museums, this
hadrosaur came complete with fossilized skin, ligaments, tendons
and possibly some internal organs, according to researchers.
"To have something that was found here in North Dakota come
back here to the Heritage Center is so great to have happen," said
Merl Paaverud, the center's director. "It'll be wonderful for our
kids."
The dinosaur was discovered in 1999 near Marmarth by Tyler
Lyson, 24, who spotted its bony tail while hiking on his uncle's
ranch in the Badlands.
Lyson, then a high school sophomore, noted the location of his
find but didn't come back until five years later, when he
discovered the rest of the creature.