During the first season, in the 20-square-meter “Bonebed” from Wyoming, the preparation team uncovered nearly 1,000 teeth and bone specimens from various dinosaur species—including T. rex, Triceratops, Pectinodon, and Edmontosaurus—right before the visitors’ eyes and prepared them for further scientific analysis. During the winter months, they processed the finds in the workshop using microscopes, pneumatic chisels, and sandblasters, and identified and cataloged the fossils.
The excavation team for the exhibition “Edmond’s Prehistoric Realm – A Dinosaur Dig in Frankfurt” has worked through large sections of the bone bed from Wyoming and has already uncovered numerous fossilized teeth and bones from Edmontosaurus and many other dinosaurs. A highlight of the excavation is the discovery of teeth from large predatory dinosaurs, including an eight-centimeter-long T. rex tooth. Other highlights include numerous skull bones from Edmontosaurus. In addition to dinosaur fossils, there were also many other discoveries: fossil remains of turtles, crocodiles, mammals, and as-yet-unidentified animals and plants.
It is not only the fossils themselves, but also their location within the bone bed that reveals a great deal to scientists about the ecosystem in Wyoming nearly 70 million years ago.
Project leader Philipe Havlik is thrilled: “We had expected to find about 1,000 artifacts across the entire Bonebed site—but it’s already becoming clear that the number could be about four times higher than originally anticipated!” Things remain exciting at our dinosaur excavation site in Frankfurt, and we’re delighted that work can continue next year!
Various analyses of the finds aim to answer scientific questions about the time of Edmond & Co. In the second excavation season, 20 scientists from eight research institutes are again employing different methods and addressing various research questions in order to collaboratively reconstruct and understand the ecosystem of Wyoming’s dinosaurs from nearly 70 million years ago, as well as to clarify the formation of the bone bed. In doing so, the scientists can draw on numerous findings from the first season. Just recently, the exact age of the rock was determined at the Senckenberg Institute in Dresden using volcanic minerals; at Goethe University, researchers found evidence that edmontosaurs undertook long migrations; and in the preparation labs, evidence was found that some dinosaurs had survived severe bone fractures.
The second excavation season will also yield additional pieces of the puzzle that will help reconstruct the ecosystem from nearly 70 million years ago. “We also hope to recover numerous additional Edmontosaurus specimens from the rock outcrop, which will help answer the question of whether an entire herd perished at the site in Wyoming,” he explains. In addition to the Edmontosaurus finds, the team expects to uncover more T. rex and mammal fossils.
