WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderNew Burpee discovery could end scientific debate

New Burpee discovery could end scientific debate

HANKSVILLE, UTAH (WREX) - Thursday Burpee Museum researchers and volunteers make another major discovery.

13 News Reporter Bob Schaper is in Hanksville, Utah for the dig.  He says Thursday diggers found the entire neck bone of a large sauropod.  It's believed to be completely intact.  All the vertebrae are still connected.

Burpee Museum Collections Manager Scott Williams says this would be a huge breakthrough because scientists have argued over whether these long-necked animals, like barosaurs, could actually lift their necks above their hearts.  Scientists hope to be able to see with this fossil how flexible the animals were.

As previously reported, the Hanksville-Burpee Quarry is rapidly gaining prominence in the world of paleontology. Since its discovery in 2007, the 100-by-400-meter bone bed has yielded some 4,000 pounds of dinosaur fossils.

Another 6,000 pounds is expected to be removed this summer, according to Scott Williams, exhibit manager at the Burpee. Recent activity has focused on two large dinosaurs at the site: a juvenile allosaurus (a meat-eater similar to a T. Rex); and a rare barosaurus, a long-necked animal reaching lengths of 85 feet and weights of 20 tons.

The fossils were mapped, catalogued, encased and removed from the site. Because they were taken from federal land, they remain the property of the United States, but will be held in trust by the Burpee.

David Monk, a documentary filmmaker from Chicago, who directed the Discovery Channel's "The Mystery Dinosaur," was on site to film a still-unnamed sequel.

Meanwhile, Bob Schaper discovered a well-preserved fossil from a large sauropod. The tibia, or shinbone, was found on a hill alongside a large bed of other fossils -- possibly from the same animal. I also discovered what appears to be a vertebra from the long-necked creature.

The weather on-site has been largely good, though afternoon thunderstorms have disrupted work for several hours. Daytime temperatures are in the high 80s to low 90s.