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June 30, 2016

The Discovery of “Urinator montanus."

After simply scanning the ground for fossil fragments, bathroom breaks are appear to be the most effective way of finding new fossil sites.
That’s because looking for just enough cover to take care of business often leads paleontologists and volunteers to isolated spots that might not otherwise be searched. In 1999, for example, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University paleontologist Jason Poole was wandering the 150-million-year-old rock of Montana when he had to stop for a pee break out in the desert. And it was at that spot that he noticed an interesting bone poking out of the gray Jurassic stone. Digging in, Poole and his team found even more of what turned out to be an Allosaurus, but, before the bones even came out of the ground, he gave the dinosaur a nickname for how it was found. Informally, at least, this carnivore is called “Urinator montanus.” - - | Smithsonian

Posted by gerardvanderleun at June 30, 2016 1:13 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

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