Montana Dinosaur Trail

02/11/2024

Happy ! Edgarosaurus (MOR 751) is a short-necked plesiosaur discovered in the Cretaceous Thermopolis Shale near Edgar, Montana. This marine carnivore used its long snout to capture fish and other soft-bodied prey.

01/11/2024

Welcome to November everyone! Below are this month’s operating schedules for the 14 Montana Dinosaur Trail Facilities. Four of the facilities have upcoming November/December events you may be interested in checking out – Carter County Museum, Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, Museum of the Rockies and the Two Medicine Dinosaur Center. We’ve highlighted most of them on our page but you can get details and contact info on our website’s Events Page as well: https://mtdinotrail.org. We look forward to seeing you along the Montana Dinosaur Trail!

Montana Dinosaur Trail Facility Operating Schedules
November 1, 2024

Blaine County Museum, Chinook: Open Mon-Fri 10 am-6 pm EXCEPT Closed Select Federal Holidays.
Carter County Museum, Ekalaka: Open Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm, Saturday-Sunday 1-5 pm EXCEPT Closed All Federal Holidays (including Election Day, Nov 5).
Depot Museum, Rudyard: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum), 406-355-4356.
Fort Peck Interpretive Center, Fort Peck: Open By Appointment Only Mon-Fri, call 406-526-3493 or 406-526-3411 ext. 0.
Frontier Gateway Museum, Glendive: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) through May 2025. Call 406-377-3018 or 406-365-4653.
Garfield County Museum, Jordan: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) call Karen Witt 406-557-2544.
Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, Malta: Open Nov 15, 6:30-8:30 pm, Wine & Dino Evening, $10/person; Nov 29-30, 10 am-3 pm, for tours and holiday shopping; Otherwise by Appointment Only (3 person minimum, 24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) Call 406-654-5300 or email: [email protected].
H. Earl Clack Museum, Havre: Open Tues-Sat. 1-5 pm. Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump site/Tours Closed until May 2025
Makoshika State Park, Glendive: Visitor Center Open Wed-Sun. 10 am-4 pm, Closed State & Federal Holidays; Park open for Day Use 7 am-10 pm and overnight camping.
Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman: Open Daily 9 am-5 pm EXCEPT Closed Nov 25, Dec 25, and Jan 1.
Old Trail Museum, Choteau: Closed until May 2025.
Phillips County Museum, Malta: Open Monday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm.
The Montana Dinosaur Center, Bynum: Open By Appointment Only, Call 406-469-2211. Book 2025 Field Digs at https://tmdinosaurcenter.org/
Upper Musselshell Museum, Harlowton: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) and to get Passport Stamps call Nancy at 406-239-2255 or Karena 406-366-5118.

27/10/2024

Happy ! About 8 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex roamed western North America, its relative Daspletosaurus was at the top of the Cretaceous food chain. This is the holotype skull of Daspletosaurus horneri (MOR 590), on display in MOR’s Hall of Growth & Behavior.

23/10/2024

Join Tom this Sunday at the lower group use shelter at 8:00pm to see the Orionids Meteor Shower! ✨⭐️

23/10/2024

The Fort Peck Interpretive Center is where you'll find Peck’s Rex — the life-size model of a Tyrannosaurus rex that was discovered just southeast of Fort Peck in 1997.

During the fall and winter, be sure to give the Interpretive Center a call in advance to schedule your visit!

16/10/2024

🦖 Presenting Prehistory: No Plain Jane with Scott A. Williams
📅 Thursday, October 17
🕠 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Join us as paleontologist and MOR’s Director of Exhibitions, Scott A. Williams, explores the fascinating debate surrounding "Nanotyrannus" – a possible dwarf species of tyrannosaur! 🦕 Learn how "Jane," a teenage tyrannosaur from Montana, plays a key role in determining whether these small tyrannosaur skeletons are a distinct species or simply juvenile T. rex. 🦴

Don't miss out on this thrilling journey into Montana's Cretaceous past!
Free and open to the public: https://ow.ly/BMQK50TM4fk

12/10/2024

Happy ! Hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs) like Edmontosaurus (MOR 003) had jaws filled with hundreds of teeth stacked in columns. This “dental battery” helped hadrosaurs grind vegetation and become one of the dominant groups of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous.

12/10/2024

11/10/2024

We’re setting a New Record for Trail Finishers this Year! Had a flurry of 10 Trail Finishers report in this month bringing our Trail Finishers Total up to 59! The Dahm Family from Idaho – Evie, Orion, Alex, Tracee and Andrew – hit the Trail May of this year and finished Sept. 1. Minnesotan Ron Williams spent a couple of years traveling the Trail finishing this Sept. Kalispell MT’s Jake Faucey was on the Trail April-Sept 2024. And Emy and Justin of Kalispell along with Oliver of Bozeman we’re part of a whirlwind Trail Tour June 10-15, 2024. They provided this great note about their trip with their finisher forms. Thanks All For Getting Us to A New Record!!!! Let’s keep that number growing! Get Your Passport at any Trail Facility or online at https://mtdinotrail.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

09/10/2024

Virtual Fossil Friday is almost here, and this week, we’re traveling back 25,000 years to meet Diprotodon—a giant, ancient relative of modern wombats! 🐾

Join Outreach Program Manager Ashley Hall as she explores the fascinating world of this massive marsupial! From fossil specimens to expert insights, you’ll discover the unique role Diprotodon played in its Pleistocene environment.

📅 Tune in this Friday at 9 a.m. MST and bring your curiosity: https://ow.ly/FWcv50TCGnS

08/10/2024

This was a hit last time, so we are doing it again! Join Aubrey on Friday October 11th, 5:30 pm, for a plant identification hike!

08/10/2024

Join us as we celebrate National Fossil Day on Saturday October 12th, 1-3 pm.

08/10/2024

Happy ! Nearly a dozen teeth of Deinonychus, a larger relative of Velociraptor, were found near the skeleton of this plant-eating Tenontosaurus (MOR 682). This fossil evidence suggests that Deinonychus and other dromaeosaurs ("raptors") may have hunted and fed in packs.

01/10/2024

October has arrived! There are still six Montana Dinosaur Trail Facilities operating on regular schedules for Trail Travelers – they’re IDed with the Trail Posters we’ve featured in this Post. Seven other facilities are open By Appointment Only (24 hrs. minimum notice) and their phone numbers are listed below. Only one Trail Facility is Closed until May 2025 SO come see us, get your Passport Stamped, and enjoy the adventure and experience the Montana Dinosaur Trail Offers!

Montana Dinosaur Trail Facility Operating Schedules
October 1, 2024

Blaine County Museum, Chinook: Open Mon-Fri 10 am-6 pm EXCEPT Closed Oct. 14 for Indigenous Peoples Day.
Carter County Museum, Ekalaka: Open Monday-Saturday 9 am-5 pm, Sunday 1-5 pm EXCEPT Closed Oct. 14 for Indigenous Peoples Day.
Depot Museum, Rudyard: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum), 406-355-4356.
Fort Peck Interpretive Center, Fort Peck: Open By Appointment Only Mon-Fri, call 406-526-3493 or 406-526-3411 ext. 0.
Frontier Gateway Museum, Glendive: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) through May 2025. Call 406-377-3018 or 406-365-4653.
Garfield County Museum, Jordan: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) call Karen Witt 406-557-2544.
Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, Malta: Open by Appointment Only (3 person minimum, 24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) Call 406-654-5300 or email: [email protected].
H. Earl Clack Museum, Havre: Open Tues-Sat. 1-5 pm. Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump site/Tours Closed until May 2025
Makoshika State Park, Glendive: Visitor Center Open Wed-Sun. 10 am-4 pm; Park open for Day Use 7 am-10 pm and overnight camping.
Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman: Open Daily 9 am-5 pm
Old Trail Museum, Choteau: Closed until May 2025.
Phillips County Museum, Malta: Open Monday-Saturday 10 am-5 pm.
The Montana Dinosaur Center, Bynum: Open By Appointment Only, Call 406-469-2211. Book 2025 Field Digs at https://tmdinosaurcenter.org/
Upper Musselshell Museum, Harlowton: Open by Appointment Only (24 hr Advance Notice Minimum) and to get Passport Stamps call Nancy at 406-239-2255 or Karena 406-366-5118.

01/10/2024

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is Alberta Canada's finest dinosaur facility - and their staff travels the Montana Dinosaur Trail!

27/09/2024

🦖 Virtual Fossil Friday is tomorrow! 🦖
Join Museum of the Rockies and Dinosaur National Monument for an exciting look into the late Jurassic era! Tomorrow, September 27, from 9–9:30 a.m. MST, MOR’s Outreach Program Manager, Ashley Hall, will be in conversation with Dinosaur National Monument Lead Paleontologist and Museum Curator, ReBecca Hunt-Foster, to discuss fascinating dinosaur and fossil discoveries from the park.

Mark your calendars and tune in via Zoom for this unique adventure into the ancient world! 🦕🌿
🔗 Follow the link below for more information.
https://ow.ly/N35N50TwBAX

26/09/2024

🎥 WHY DINOSAURS? Documentary Screening with Tony Pinto
Saturday, September 28 | 6 – 8:00pm
Dinosaurs have captured our imaginations for generations, but have you ever wondered why? In WHY DINOSAURS?, filmmaker Tony Pinto and his son, James, take us on an incredible journey across the globe to explore our obsession with these ancient creatures. Meet world-renowned paleontologists, unearth real dinosaur bones, and encounter dino-fanatics of all ages.

📅 Tickets: $8/member, $10/non-member.
🎟 Register here: https://ow.ly/wW9Q50TvHCf

After the screening, stay for an engaging panel discussion and audience Q&A with Director of WHY DINOSAURS? Tony Pinto, host of Eons • PBS Kallie Moore, Museum and Science Education at Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology Kathryn Abbott, and our museum paleontologists. 🦖🎤

25/09/2024

Einiosaurus might be our most recognizable ceratopsian from the Two Medicine Formation. While not the largest, it had a very unique horn shape, curving forwards and down. This shape leads to many hypotheses that its horn had a bigger display role than defensive role.

25/09/2024

One of the Goals of the Montana Dinosaur Trail is to keep fossils found in Montana in Montana Museums & Interpretive Centers for public viewing and scientific research. One of the dinos that got away was the Dueling Dinosaurs (a tyrannosaur and triceratops locked in battle or death) BUT its current home institution – North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences – recently brought parts of that find back to its real home in Jordan MT for a fossil education program at Jordan’s schools. Billings MT’s KTVQ TV’s David Jay joined the North Carolina Museum officials and Jordan students and shared this report:

A rare dinosaur fossil discovery in Montana has been in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the past two decades.

23/09/2024

Cooper (with Mom, Jenn) of Kent WA is our 49th Trail Finisher for 2024. Their Trail Travels began in June 2023 as part of a trip to visit family – they visited 7 Trail Facilities in 3 days that year (“on a mission” they say). Coming back in 2024, they took in 7 more Trail Facilities as well as exploring other parts of Montana. That’s the way to do it! Jenn tells us the Montana Dinosaur Trail Adventure fit right into Cooper’s interests – “Cooper has always wanted to be a paleontologist so it was great meeting students, technicians and volunteers at the museums.” Cooper and Jenn - Thanks so much for Traveling the Trail and sharing these great photos with us. Who’s Next? Get Your Passport at any Trail Facility or online at https://mtdinotrail.org. We look forward to hearing your stories.

23/09/2024

Happy ! Deinonychus (MOR 747) is a dromaeosaur (“raptor”) whose name means “terrible claw.” This relative of Velociraptor has an enlarged claw on the second toe that may have helped it to restrain its prey, similar to how some modern birds of prey use their talons. This “Raptor Prey Restraint” hypothesis was proposed in a 2011 study led by Montana State University graduate student Denver Fowler, now Curator of the Badlands Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson, North Dakota.

23/09/2024

Hey, Fossil Friday fans!

Thanks to everyone who tuned in to this week's Fossil Friday 🦖, and a huge thanks to this week's guest, MOR Paleontology Lab and Field Manager Lee Hall, for giving us a summer field update on what dinosaurs were discovered this season across Montana ⛏️🦴!

Did you miss this episode? Watch Fossil Fridays via Zoom on select Fridays at 9 a.m. MST, 11 a.m. EST. Please share with teachers, homeschooling families, and fossil fans alike!

🇦🇺 This next Friday, September 27, join us for a deep dive into Australia's HUGE extinct wombat, Diprotodon. It's gonna be a fun one!

Visit museumoftherockies.org/schools-educators/virtual-programs to register!

Heads up: we will be adding recordings of past episodes to YouTube before the new year!

Your friends,

Ashley Hall, Outreach Program Manager
MaggieJo Widdicombe, Museum Educator

22/09/2024

"What do you do when the summer season ends?" It's a fair question and one we get a lot. With how successful our field seasons are, we have many fossil jackets to work on. Paleontologist Bryce surveys the contents of a plaster jacket, seeing where the bone is exposed and planning how best to prep the jacket, which is loaded with hadrosaur vertebrae from the Two Medicine Formation.