Big Batch Of Dinosaur Bones Found In Utah

Fossil Find One Of The Best Yet; Excavation Provides Many Clues To Jurassic Ecology

(AP)  A newly discovered batch of well-preserved dinosaur bones, petrified trees and even freshwater clams in southeastern Utah could provide new clues about life in the region some 150 million years ago.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the find Monday, calling the quarry near Hanksville "a major dinosaur fossil discovery."

An excavation revealed at least four sauropods, which are long-necked, long-tailed plant-eating dinosaurs, and two carnivorous ones, according to the bureau. It may have also uncovered an herbivorous stegosaurus.

Animal burrows and petrified tree trunks 6 feet in diameter were found nearby. The site doesn't contain any new species but offers scientists the chance to learn more about the ecology of that time, said Scott Foss, a BLM paleontologist.

The fossilized dinosaurs are from the same late Jurassic period as those at Dinosaur National Monument, which straddles the Utah-Colorado state line, and the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry near Price.

It could be a decade or so before the full importance of the Hanksville quarry is known, Foss said. "It does have the potential to match the other major quarries in Utah," he said.

The site, roughly 50 yards wide by 200 yards long, was excavated by a team from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois. Museum officials visited the site for about a week last summer and returned this year for a three-week excavation.

The area has long been known to locals and BLM officials as a dinosaur haven. But no one knew of the site's magnitude until excavation began.

The bones were found in a sandstone channel of an ancient river.

"The preservation of these dinosaurs is excellent," Foss said.

The mix of dinosaurs, trees and other species in the area may help scientists piece together what life was like 145 million years to 150 million years ago, including details about the ancient climate, Foss said.

BLM plans to close the site to conduct an environmental assessment for continued work in the area. The agency isn't disclosing the exact location of the find because of security concerns.

[nic1234567-2009]

This article is NOT about politics...it is NOT about religion or even man''''s conception of (or perception of) God. Posted by guadalcanal3
Actually the article is about dinosaur bones found in Utah. And to be fair the young earth Creationists have as much interest in Dinosaur bones as those of us on the evolution side. We just have a profound disagreement as to their origin. I don%u2019t have a problem with them posting comment on this page. I find that some of the most lively and insightful discussions are a direct result of some of their post.

And to cfin5i I would never dream of mock your belief. Give that I count my self as a member of "Christian Community" that would be hypocritical.

[guadalcanal3]

This article is NOT about politics...it is NOT about religion or even man''s conception of (or perception of) God....It IS about science..and it IS about evolution....and it IS about paleontology...If you want to talk about politics, religion or god...then go to the Philosophy page. (which is everywhere else)and it is about a region of our country that was populated by a completely different species of animals...tens of millions of years before man ever walked this earth...Waaaay before politics, religion or even what man perceives God to be...This article is about FACTS...Not somebody''s version of what the truth is...."Truth"...has many colors and shades...Fact is Fact...period.

[cfin5]

nic1234567,---- I totally understand your thoughts about the "Christian Community" and their present beliefs,....or should I say "lack" of the same. The Lord said that there would be a great falling away from the faith prior to his return, even mocking his return to judge this world. He warns us of "false Prophets" that the christian community would be infested with and is in fact a major sign of his return. Yet, I''ve never seen where the Lord told a lie. And this is why I don''t play lawyer with his words. It''s hard enough to follow the things that I do understand in his word than to fret about the things I do not. But to sum up what I think is important to say regarding his creation,....its absolutely WONDERFUL! And he said he did it all in 6 days. Before Jesus left, he said that he was going to prepare a place for his believers and that was 2000 years ago. I want to go there for eternity and be happy. There is the "TEARLESS" place called Heaven.....I encourage all who read this to read his words for yourself because it is FREE of charge. There''s nothing you can do to earn it. Don''t dare trust what some church says God says. Trust what he says only. If you don''t understand something, ask him for wisdom privately and he will show you openly. I says this because I really like you guys. It''s OK to mock me in public. I don''t care anymore........just read it, believe it and BE THERE!

[downsteamjim]

4 dinosaurs [snoreapods]: Senators Kennedy, Byrd, McCain, and the creator of Obamas political ideas.

[nic1234567-2009]

Remember that the Bible was written with parables and in language that the then people could understand.
Posted by Klingon69

Exactly, that%u2019s why I take issue with people who claim that there is a clear evidence of dinosaurs in the bible. That interpretation is purely subjective. Beside Dinosaurs in the bible is not even universally recognized in the Christian community.

Check out this web site:
http://www.reasons.org/resources/faf/92q3faf/index.shtml#let_us_reason

%u201CThe problem with a literal interpretation of Job 40 and 41 is that no creatures on earth, alive or extinct, fit the descriptions. No dinosaurs, for example, ever breathed fire or smoke or had bones of iron or brass.%u201D

The message of Jobs is that part of nature is indomitable, that "no purpose of [God''s] can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). That message would lose its meaning if Behemoth and Leviathan where an ordinary animals that humans would be able to kill. The fact that we have Dinosaurs bones should put the rest the idea that the Behemoth and Leviathan where Dinosaurs because they surely could be killed.

[klingon69]

The King James Version also contradicts the sauropod hypothesis, because sauropods are oviparous. Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs and do not have navels

Job 40:16. Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly.
Posted by nic1234567 at 01:59 PM : Jun 18, 2008

Remember that the Bible was written with parables and in language that the then people could understand. The navel is very close to the center of graity, strength and balance in the human creature.
The navel is also the location of the umbilical attachment. however egg-laying creatures did have a similar connection point for the yolk sac.

[nic1234567-2009]

how is it that missing links between species as the evolutionists call them are believed with no evidence for that standard of judgment?
Posted by cfin5

Actually we don%u2019t refer to them as missing links they%u2019re called transitional. There are many transitional fossils. The only way that the claim of their absence may be remotely justified, aside from ignoring the evidence completely, is to redefine "transitional" as referring to a fossil that is a direct ancestor of one organism and a direct descendant of another. However, direct lineages are not required; they could not be verified even if found. What a transitional fossil is, in keeping with what the theory of evolution predicts, is a fossil that shows a mosaic of features from an older and more recent organism.

Here%u2019s a list of some transitional fossils.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transitional_fossils

[nic1234567-2009]

There is a beetle by the way that spits fire. Some kind of chemical mixing around the mouth area I heard.
Posted by cfin5

I believer your referring to the Bombardier beetles store. Creationists have used them in the past to support the claim that dragons could have existed. Bombardier beetles store two separate chemicals (hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide). When they are threatened, the two chemicals are squirted through two tubes, where they are mixed together to undergo a violent chemical reaction. The boiling liquid partially becomes a gas and is expelled with a loud popping sound. However it does not produce a flame. The dragon came about by an misunderstand of the process.

[displeased]

No need to be sorry. I''''''''m perfectly fine with my acceptance of not knowing the origin of the universe. My question is, will god punish me for not knowing?

Yes, God doesn''''t like stupid people. No matter if they''''re his creation or not.
Posted by Avigil2

Oh craap, I guess we''re all doomed then.

[cfin5]

Posted by kansas1946 at 12:41 AM : Jun 18, 2008--- I agree 100% with you here.

[cfin5]

Oh, I forgot to comment on navels. This could mean that it is the "central" point of his strength in the belly area. With a tail that big the beast would need a fair amount of strength in its guts to control the leverage of its tail. Now believing in creation as I do, Adam and Eve would not have a "belly button" by how they were created, yet all mankind afterwards did. So going with that standard I''d assume the original creatures would be likewise according to their makings after their own kind.

[cfin5]

The T-Rex was terrestrial. Also if dinosaurs could breathe fire, they would have had adaptations around their mouths to protect their mouth and throat from flame. Nothing resembling such an adaptation has ever been seen.

Posted by nic1234567 at 01:59 PM : Jun 18, 2008----- I saw my T-Rex mistake sometime after I hit the submit button. It''s clearly a sea monster. I was thinking of Behemoth. There is a beetle by the way that spits fire. Some kind of chemical mixing around the mouth area I heard. Don''t see why this couldn''t be possible for Leviathan as the text speaks of his scales and the flakes of his flesh which sounds like a little fire would do much more than warm his nose and mouth up some. Even if it did, he does dwell in water it says. God also indicates the uselessness of man-made weapons against him and even laughs when a spear is shook at him. That means that man was here simultaneously with him on the Earth. Now back to Behemoth,....God''s not talking about some breed of cattle here. What cow has a tail big as a Cedar Tree and gonads like the ones described in Job 40:17? I know how big the Cedars gets in the North West. I doubt a good kick in the nut''th would even wake him up,....if someone felt like trying to "commit suicide by dinosaur" that is. Last of all, if such adaptations at the end of your post have never been seen, how is it that missing links between species as the evolutionists call them are believed with no evidence for that standard of judgment?

[nic1234567-2009]

Dinosaur bones are not really bone so what you would really be making is Stone soup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_soup

[omgomgomg1]

Yummmmm....time for some Dinosaur bone soup! So what do we do with this info? Here''s a recipe:

* Take some dinosuar bones + salt tea spoon of oil onions tomatoes oregano water...boil for 15 mins...and you have DinoSoup. Let us know how it turns out...

[nic1234567-2009]

God talks about Behemoth (Brontosaurus?) and says he was made along with mankind by himself and describes this beasts mightiness of way. Posted by cfin5

Behemoth, from Job 40:15-24, was not a dinosaur. The "tail like a cedar," which creationists think indicates a large dinosaur, is not even a real tail. "Tail" was used as a euphemism in the King James version. If you read the whole passage its pertty clear.

Job 40:17. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

The behemoth was probably a bull, and the cedar comparison referred to its virility.

The King James Version also contradicts the sauropod hypothesis, because sauropods are oviparous. Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs and do not have navels

Job 40:16. Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly.

As far as the Leviathan it appears also in Ugaritic texts, where it is described as a twisting serpent (echoing language from Isa. 27:1) with seven heads. Also Leviathan is clearly described as a sea creature in the Bible. The T-Rex was terrestrial. Also if dinosaurs could breathe fire, they would have had adaptations around their mouths to protect their mouth and throat from flame. Nothing resembling such an adaptation has ever been seen.

[avigil2]

No need to be sorry. I''''m perfectly fine with my acceptance of not knowing the origin of the universe. My question is, will god punish me for not knowing?

Yes, God doesn''t like stupid people. No matter if they''re his creation or not.

[displeased]

this god provided no evidence of its existence.
Posted by Displeased

I''''m sorry for you that you don''''t see God''''s handiwork all around you.
Posted by minnick8

No need to be sorry. I''m perfectly fine with my acceptance of not knowing the origin of the universe. My question is, will god punish me for not knowing?

[cfin5]

"I believe God in what he says about creation in that he made it by "how" he said it. "
Yo, cfin5! I''''m a greenie-evo ***, but I still kinda believe in "God". What I wanna know is, do you think God set the type for that book you''''re reading?

Posted by aerhed at 12:30 AM : Jun 18, 2008----Good question. I suppose the answer is yes seeing he was the one that made the "type setter". But what I meant was that he explains very complicated things in a way that is easy to understand. He is very concerned with the words that he has spoken. He has set this importance above all else,....even his own name. For what good is your name if you can''t keep your word?.........I can appreciate in part your own comment about being green. Nothing wrong with liking things that don''t pollute. In fact, God doesn''t like folks destroying his world because he makes mention of the reasons why he is angry at the end of the world,....and one of them is in Revelation 11:18 at the end of the verse he says, : and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. I believe that this is talking about the wars we''ll be seeing soon though.

[guadalcanal3]

Wow!...As a lover of paleontolgy...I can really appreciate this find.

[kansas1946]

There is enough coal and shale oil in this state to run our nation for 300 years. I think that is nice to know considering the Middle Eastern oil crisis we seem to be experiencing.


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Posted by minnick8 at 06:52 PM : Jun 17, 2008
********************************************

Speaking of coal, I think some guy in Montana or Wyoming is working on the process for turning coal into a liquid fuel. If I remember, it was very clean, but produces co2 in the process. He had some way of disposing or using the co2 but I can''t remember. I think the answer to the energy problem is develop everything. Wind, solar, coal, water, thermal, hydrogen, electric., etc. I don''t think there is any one answer, but the US needs to get on the ball and pump research money into these technologies instead of fighting about oil.