On June 13, a nearly complete baby duck-billed dinosaur fossil - still curled up with its bones in life position - got the VIP treatment out of the Utah backcountry. Packed inside more than 1,100 pounds of rock and plaster, the tiny dinosaur was airlifted from a remote dig site in Grand Staircase-Escalante and sent on its way to the Natural History Museum of Utah for a long stretch of careful preparation and study.
Helicopters Did The Heavy Lifting
Utah Army National Guard aviators turned the remote fossil recovery into a full-on training mission. UH-60 Black Hawk and UH-72 Lakota helicopters, with an assist from a CH-47 Chinook from the Nevada National Guard, hauled the massive plaster jackets from the rugged site to waiting trucks. The operation also doubled as sling-load practice under the Innovative Readiness Training program, according to Army.mil.
What The Scientists Found
Researchers from the Natural History Museum of Utah had uncovered a nearly complete skeleton of a baby hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur that would have measured only about two to three feet long in life. The youngster was entombed in more than 1,100 pounds of rock and plaster before the team wrapped the fossil in burlap and plaster for the flight out. The bones were still in life position, a rare kind of preservation that could help reveal how these animals grew and behaved, Dr. Randall Irmis told KUTV.
Another Giant Block
The baby hadrosaur was not the only heavy cargo. Crews also lifted out a 4,000-pound block containing an ornithomimid, a long-legged, ostrich-like theropod. That specimen is headed to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for preparation. Both fossils will go through detailed study and conservation work before they are ready for public display, according to Army.mil.
Why Grand Staircase Still Matters
Grand Staircase-Escalante remains one of the country's dinosaur hot spots. Decades of fieldwork have turned up species found nowhere else and some remarkably complete skeletons. The Bureau of Land Management's science program coordinates research in the monument and sets permitting rules to make sure fossils found on public lands are properly preserved and shared, according to the BLM.
What Happens Next
Back in the lab, museum preparators will slowly cut open the plaster jackets, remove the surrounding rock, and stabilize the fragile bones - a process that can stretch on for months. The baby hadrosaur will be prepared at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City, while the ornithomimid will be worked on in Raleigh, museum staff told KUTV.
Scientists say these finds will help fill in the story of Late Cretaceous ecosystems in the American West and provide fresh material for research and future exhibits. It will be a while before the little dinosaur is ready for a gallery spotlight, but that dramatic helicopter ride marked the start of a long journey from desert rock to museum case.
