Utahraptor Project

[Allosaurus]

Once finished, do we know where it will be curated? Will it be going back to Thanksgiving Point or somewhere else?

[Troodon]

5 minutes ago, Allosaurus said:

Once finished, do we know where it will be curated? Will it be going back to Thanksgiving Point or somewhere else?

 

Have not heard but Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point is probably a reasonable call

[jpc]

1 hour ago, Troodon said:

 

Have not heard but Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point is probably a reasonable call

I don't think so.  The Thanksgiving Point Museum is not a BLM repository, and these bones came from BLM land, as far as I know.  

[Troodon]

1 hour ago, jpc said:

I don't think so.  The Thanksgiving Point Museum is not a BLM repository, and these bones came from BLM land, as far as I know.  

So the NHMU would be possibility if it qualifies..but that bock will take years to complete so we have a ways to go.  I'll be glad to hold it 

[Troodon]

Kirkland posted this find in the block a mystery.

 

"Scott found something different in the Utahraptor Megablock; "popped out." The claw is rather straight, highly asymmetrical with a pretty simple condyle. Not a dew claw.... Looks most like a turtle claw, but no turtles this big have been found at this level"

 

 

 

[Troodon]

Kirkland posted these images : 

 

Scott Madsen commented; "Progress on a few tail vertebra from the block I've been working on. They are being supported by a simple temporary plaster shell. The rock is quite hard here, awkward combo when the bone is brittle and thin." 

 

[Troodon]

Some new photos

 

One of the largest Dromaeosaurids

 

Dentary

 

Hand Claw

 

Vertebral Column

[Nanotyrannus35]

Looks like it's coming along nicely. Where is the reconstruction picture from? It looks a bit like the illustration done for Saurian. Also, I love the Christmas profile picture change @Troodon.

[jpc]

This project is one of the most exciting things happening in North American dinosaurology these days.  

[hadrosauridae]

Thanks for these amazing updates.  I watched the video on youtube where dr. Madsen talked about the geology of the block, the finding, recovery, movement and the problems with working on something so large and completely packed with fossil material.

[Troodon]

51 minutes ago, Nanotyrannus35 said:

Looks like it's coming along nicely. Where is the reconstruction picture from? It looks a bit like the illustration done for Saurian. Also, I love the Christmas profile picture change @Troodon.

 

The info comes from Kirkland's twitter post and the illustration credited to Gabriel N.U. (@Serpenillus)

 

[Sjfriend]

Thank you for keeping us updated. And that illustration really makes me want 1 for a pet 

[Troodon]

Kirkland post

 

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

On 12/14/2021 at 1:28 PM, Troodon said:

Kirkland post

 

It's quite rare for the growth series of dromaeosaurs to be be documented in the fossil record... this is going to be so useful to better understanding raptor ontogeny!

Thanks for the updates on this great project @Troodon

[Troodon]

2 minutes ago, The Amateur Paleontologist said:

It's quite rare for the growth series of dromaeosaurs to be be documented in the fossil record... this is going to be so useful to better understanding raptor ontogeny!

Thanks for the updates on this great project @Troodon

Nice to see you back and I cannot wait to see this block opened up.  Will take years but should be very informative.  Not sure we have any record of an extensive growth series for dromaeosaurids.

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

2 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Not sure we have any record of an extensive growth series for dromaeosaurids.

I mean yeah, closest example I can think of is the Romanian Balaur bondoc, of which there's two known specimens which may represent different ontogenetic stages...

2 problems with this one, though - firstly, the larger specimen might represent an altogether different species of Balaur. And secondly it's not even certain that Balaur is a dromaeosaur, depending what side of the debate you're on! 

[Troodon]

Jim Kirkland reported that Scott Madsen found a new juvenile Utahraptor maxilla in the block.  Boy its pretty small.  If all these elements prove to be Utahraptor they should be getting a good view of the ontogenetic changes in these raptors

Here are the photos he provided.

 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisMouM]

On 2/26/2021 at 1:54 PM, Troodon said:

A beautiful maxilla sees light after 136my

 

Hi, buddy. Can I ask Utahraptors’ teeth are very rare in the world? Because I can't find any tooth that was labelled a Utahraptor tooth. 

[Troodon]

5 hours ago, ChrisMouM said:

Hi, buddy. Can I ask Utahraptors’ teeth are very rare in the world? Because I can't find any tooth that was labelled a Utahraptor tooth. 

 

Utahraptor is only found in the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah.  Most of the exposures that I'm aware of are found on protected State/Federal land and its illegal to remove anything from those deposits.  In all my years collecting have never seen any material for sale from this dinosaur.

[Troodon]

For those of you offered material from Utahraptor you really need to inquire about its legality or its authenticity.  Only known from the Upper Yellow Cat member of the Cedar Mountain Formation located in a State Park.

 

Jim Kirkland posted this

"No Utahraptor in Emery County.  Never will be found outside the upper Yellow Cat Mbr. in Grand County, home of Utahraptor State Park."

 

 

[Troodon]

Jim Kirkland update

"It might look like it will be easy to extract this dentary from the Utahraptor Megablock now that the nasal have been removed from the front of it, but noooo"

[hadrosauridae]

That looks like some nasty, sticky matrix to prep through!

[Troodon]

Forgot this image...sweet 

 

[Troodon]

More images from Scott Madsen

Looks like the typical prep lab we all have

Dentary

 

Skin

[fossilhunter21]

This is a pretty neat project! I can't imagine prepping something like this... It is going to be pretty awesome when it is finished! 

 

10 minutes ago, Troodon said:

Looks like the typical prep lab we all have

Yeah, mine looks very similar.  

 

-Micah