Como bluff
Como Bluff is a famous dinosaur site in Wyoming , between the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow . There, layers of the Upper Jurassic (Sundance and Morrison Formation ) and the Lower Cretaceous emerge in a geological saddle . It is both a National Natural Landmark and on the US National Register of Historic Places .
Como Bluff was discovered as a dinosaur site during work on the Union Pacific Railroad in 1877. The main excavator was Othniel Charles Marsh from 1877. His competitor in the Bone Wars Edward Drinker Cope also excavated here. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) undertook extensive excavations here in 1897/98. Robert Bakker dug here in the 20th century . The AMNH also dug here for mammalian fossils again from 1968 to 1970.
Fossils of Apatosaurus , Stegosaurus , Allosaurus , Camarasaurus , Diplodocus (the skeleton is in the AMNH), Barosaurus , Dryosaurus , Ceratosaurus , Camptosaurus and the only known specimen of Coelurus were discovered here. Reptile fossils (turtles, crocodiles, lizards), pterosaurs , fish and mammalian fossils were also found. A total of 26 species of dinosaurs and 45 species of mammals have been discovered here, often with complete skeletons. The finds can be found in museums around the world.
Entering is only permitted with the permission of the respective landowner and excavations without permission are prohibited. There is a Fossil Cabin Museum near Medicine Bow, built in 1932 from around 5,800 dinosaur bones by the gas station owner Thomas Boyle.
literature
- John H. Ostrom , JS McIntosh: Marsh's Dinosaurs: The Collections from Como Bluff , Yale University Press, New Haven 1966