[Gutenberg 49288] • The Dinosaur Quarry. Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado-Utah

The Dinosaur Quarry: Dinosaur National Monument Colorado, Utah by John M. Good, Theodore E. White And Gilbert F. Stucker

Millions of years ago, dinosaurs rumbled across the landscape of what is now Utah. Thousands of remnants of this prehistoric era are carefully preserved and interpreted in sites, museums and quarries across the state, awaiting your discovery.

In 1909, paleontologist Earl Douglass was searching for fossils for the Carnegie Museum when he discovered a formation layered with prehistoric plant and animal fossils. A quarry was established there and it proved to be one of the world's best window into late-Jurassic-period dinosaurs. Dinosaur National Monument was created in 1915 to protect 80 acres in the quarry area. Today the monument includes 210,844 acres.

Many fossils are embedded in a sloping rock formation that was once a sandbar on the edge of a large river. As the river carried animal carcasses downstream, many became stuck on the sandbar, which eventually turned to rock. As a result, fossils from hundreds of creatures are concentrated in a small area. Many fossilized bones have been partially exposed but left intact in the rock where they can be easily seen. A building was constructed over the area, which is now known as "The Quarry" at the monument.