This is the model. Nova said they'll adapt it to be up to date scientifically (simple changes to h the feet and hands) I'm really pleased with how it turned out .
www.novastudios.be/product/comp...
Made this nice Compsognathus. Adapted it a bit for our exhibit. Thinking of writing about how Compsognathids are a fake clade created by ontogenetic clustering (Cau's work). Cool stuff. model by Nova. #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
Not a very insightful article. The important questions of how much is real, how much it actually costs to dig these things up (etc) are not asked.
Suggestion. The lowermost part of the Javelina Fm is probably late Campanian (see supp info to Fowler and freedman Fowler, 2020). There are probably two significant hiatuses within the Javelina-Black Peaks. It's not as simple as has been portrayed.
Collected many decades ago by Gary Leppart in the badlands of the Brule Formation near Dickinson, and kindly donated by his family in 2025. Next step is painting and mounting, but we should have it ready to go in the exhibit for the summer season.
Entelodonts were large omnivorous mammals that lived from 38-15 million years ago. Although they look a bit like a pig, they're more closely related to whales. We think this specimen belongs to Daeodon, although it could instead be a very large individual of Archaeotherium.
RECONSTRUCTING A HELL PIG: This really big entelodont snout is possibly the biggest found in North Dakota! To reconstruct it, Amanda laser scanned a smaller skull, then we scaled it up, and 3D printed the missing back half
#fossilfriday #scicomm #museums #mammals #fossil
50cents says they glow under UV
Ooh, diagnostic.
Cleaned by Deanna. Jack's Bonebed found by J Wilson. We're microprocessing the matrix from this site: all kinds of cool things are coming out. The richest and most exciting bonebed I have ever worked
The lines at the top of the jaw are tooth sockets for the tiny teeth! We think it looks close to Scapherpeton. Undoubtedly, this fine specimen will be useful to scientists who study these little creatures.
This fossil may look small - that's because it's from a salamander, but what a salamander! It's actually very large and surprisingly complete for the late Cretaceous of North America. From US Public lands administered by the BLM.
#FossilFriday #fossils #scicomm #salamander #microfossil
Specimen in the UV photo is Archaeotherium sp., from the historical League collection. Originally found in South Dakota White River Group, 32 million years old.
Plus a reminder photo of how MASSIVE the Leppart skull is (AND it's from North Dakota)
Today, Amanda is 3D scanning our Hell Pig (Entelondont) skull (usually in the lobby display). We're going to use the 3D scan to restore the enormous snout kindly donated 2025 by the Leppart family.
Here UV light shows the skull is ~60% real.
#FossilFriday #fossils #scicomm
If you like what we do please consider donating, or buying something from our online shop. We have some unique items that you can only get from us, with new things being added all the time:
shop.dickinsonmuseumcenter.com
SITE: "Jack's Bonebed", Dinosaur Park Formation, ~76 Million Years old, Montana. Site found by Jack Wilson on US Public Lands administered by the US Bureau of Land Management MT/Dakotas. Permanently reposited at Badlands Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson, North Dakota.
BABY DUCKBILL: Steve just finished cleaning this super cute jaw, with rows of tiny teeth! This matches another jaw, femur, and vertebrae that we collected from the same site. A baby dino skeleton is coming out!
#fossilfriday #dinosaurs #dinosaur #scicomm #fossils #publiclands
Stupid tyrannosaurs in a million bits. This is the left side of the snout of Holger, a Daspletosaurus c.f. wilsoni. The skull of Holger, our 2nd completed Dasp site, is currently being restored.
From US Public Lands administered by the BLM; Judith River Fm, Montana. #dinosaurs
right, i was saying i don't believe heron is an appropriate analogue, and I don't believe the swimming model either.
aquatic but "heron" is not a good comparison. I don't see how they could swim underwater with the sail the way it is. Totally implausible.
neither
NOTE: The lab experience is not available for 2026 because we're building the new lab, but I am hoping I can pull together the funds for 2027. I am very hopeful we might be able to get university dorm rooms for accommodation too. TRYING to make paleo accessible for all.
ALSO: Would you be interested in a lab-based volunteer experience? I'm thinking of applying for money to fund a person to run our (new, BIG) lab in the summer so we could have ~5 volunteers prepping dinosaur bones. Not everyone can do fieldwork, so this would make paleo available to more people.
Incidentally, the main photo I chose was taken during lunch, that's why we're all sat around eating. Here's a photo (taken by Dani Barrera) of some work being done at the ankylosaur quarry.
Here's the link for more information / application details, etc.
www.dickinsongov.com/museum-cente...
VOLUNTEER ON A DINOSAUR DIG: We run one of the only free dinosaur digs in the USA. We work public land and the fossils go in our public museum, forever. It's hard work, but we find some cool things. If this sounds like you, we're taking applications. Link in comms. #dinosaurs
Yes, it could be a Gorgo eating a Dasp, but it's basically impossible to tell from just the tooth spacing. Likelihood is that it's Dasp on Dasp based on abundance. There are going to be limits on how precise the information you get is, but its a cool fossil. Am trying to get the 3D file uploaded.
Read the paper here, FREE:
Nielsen J; Fowler DW; Wyenberg-Henzler, T; Jacobsen AR, & Pearce, C. (2026) Investigating size-asymmetric feeding among tyrannosaurids using tooth marks on a metatarsal from the Judith River Formation, Montana, USA. Evolving Earth
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The specimen (BDM 124) was discovered in 2012 by fossil collectors Brent and Rod Olson on private land in Montana which contains exposures of the Judith River Formation. In 2023, it was donated to the public repository at Badlands Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson ND. /6
