Evolution Research - General Evolution News

From Montana State University (website): Bozeman - A fossil-hunting trip to celebrate a son's homecoming resulted in the recent discovery of an ancient sea monster in central Montana.

Believed to be approximately 70 million years old, its skull and lower jaw represent the first complete skull of a long-necked plesiosaur found in Montana, according to MSU experts. The skull is said to be one of the best specimens of its kind in North America.

'It's a very important specimen,' MSU paleontologist Jack Horner (author of "Dinosaurs Under the Big Sky": UK | US) said at the Museum of the Rockies where the fossil rests in boxes. 'We have been looking for it for a long, long time.'

Ken Olson of Lewistown said he and his son, Garrett, found the fossils in mid-August about 75 miles northeast of Lewistown. Since Horner was in Mongolia (see "MSU, Mongolian paleontologists find 67 dinosaurs in one week"), Olson said he prepared the fossils himself and delivered them to Horner about three weeks later. Olson, a retired Lutheran pastor, has long collected fossils for the museum. Two of his best finds are the large Torosaurus skulls displayed there.

Continued at "Fossils from ancient sea monster found in Montana"
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