1. DINOSAUR DISCOVERY
October 22, 2013
By YaKenda McGahee
Those petrified remains of ancient beasts who roamed this land-
over 150 million years ago are scattered across vast swaths of the Western
U-S. Indeed a perfect burial ground for preserving dinosaur remains, and
as it turns out, a perfect place for grave digging.
“Because we have a lot of mountains, a lot of deserts that have
exposed rocks, explains Andrew Farke, Curator of the Raymond M. Alf
Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California. “A lot of those rocks are
the right age of rock to find fossil dinosaurs.”
Funny he mentions age, because that’s what makes this story so
significant, some would say pre-historic. No, not just the age of the rare
fossils found, but also the age of the fossil finder. At the Raymond Alf
Museum of Paleontology in Southern California there is a philosophy: No
one’s too young to find something millions of years old.
“This is the only nationally
accredited museum in the world that’s on a high school campus, says
Farke. “The museum has about 150,000 specimens. We have dinosaur
skulls, we have the remains of ancient sea life.”
They also have a Paleontology program that immerses students in
the study of dinosaurs, from examining fossils, to prospecting them in
places like Escalante National Monument in Utah.
“It’s a very rugged and remote area,” says Farke, “so it’s not an easy
place to work. But we take these students out there, and because it’s not
been very well researched before, you can find some really cool stuff.”
Boy, did they ever! While prospecting in 2009, a protruding piece
of…something caught the curious eye of 17-year-old student Kevin Terris.

2. “He looked at it,” remembers Farke, “called me over and I didn’t
think it was anything that significant, looked almost like a rib fragment.” And
while it looked insignificant, experience has taught Dr. Andrew Farke that
looks can deceive.
“I turn it over and there’s a dinosaur skull staring back at me. I look
at that and say, ‘Kevin uh, we should maybe take a look at that rib I just
told you to ignore.’ So on one side of the rock we have the skull, the other
side we have toe bones; that means there’s a whole dinosaur in between!”
Photo Courtesy of: Raymond
M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
Not just a complete dinosaur skeleton, but a rare one that would
take an entire year to dig-up and airlift-out. Today the skeleton sits on
display at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology.
“This is an absolutely unique find. No one has ever found a skeleton
– adult or baby – of this dinosaur, Parasaurolophus, as complete as this
one.”
Scientists believe the Parasaurolophus walked the earth about 75
million years ago. Though it’s a closer relative to the bird, it has a horn that
strongly resembles that of a ram. Instead of a means of defense,
paleontologists say its horn was used as a method of communication. But

3. it’s likely, say scientists, that this
particular dinosaur, nicknamed “Baby Joe”, couldn’t blow his undeveloped
horn. Scientists theorize Baby Joe was just an infant, a young male with so
much life to live.
Seems the same could be said for the California teenager who
made a scientific contribution far beyond his youth, surpassing the
accomplishments of far more experienced paleontologists. ###