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Ely Creek Backcountry Campsites Closed
The Ely Creek backcountry campsites located along the Jones Hole Trail have been closed until further notice due to bear activity in the area. More »
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Numerous Campsites Closed in the Green River Campground
A recent tree assessment of the Green River Campground identified potential safety issues with numerous cottonwood trees, requiring us to close many of the campsites. Please plan ahead so that you are not disappointed if the campground is full. More »
Dryosaurus altus
This Dryosaurus altus at the Carnegie Museum is the only mounted one in the world.
About Dryosaurus altus: Dryosaurus means “oak lizard” in reference to the leaf shaped teeth. It is a plant eating dinosaur with a beak and teeth in the back of its mouth. It had five fingers on each hand. To escape predators Dryosaurus depended on its strong legs to quickly run away. 
This juvenile skull is on display at the Carnegie Museum. Look closely to see an eye socket in the top left corner and teeth near the bottom left. The scale bar is 1 inch. Why is Dryosaurus altus a superstar? Both adult and juvenile Dryosaurus skeletons and skulls have been found in the Carnegie Quarry. The adult skull is the most complete best preserved in the world. Dinosaur skulls are mostly hollow and made of thin bone that often breaks. Fine sediments compress the skull during burial to flatten it the way you might step on an empty tin can. These skulls may be preserved, but some of the 3-D structure is lost. The sand-sized sediments in the Carnegie Quarry allow preserved the Dryosaurus in great detail without being crushed. The mounted skeleton at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is the most complete found in Western Hemisphere and the only mounted Dryosaurus altus in the world. 
The adult Dryosaurus skull from Dinosaur is the best ever found. Compare the features in this cast of the adult to that of the juvenile. The juvenile skull found is the most complete juvenile Dryosaurus skull ever found. Juvenile dinosaurs in general are rare finds. Since the bones are smaller and more fragile than those of the adults, they are easily broken or washed away in rivers before they are fossilized. Although most of the body was found, only the skull is on display. Jurassic Fact: At 7.9 ft (2.4 m) Dryosaurus is the smallest adult dinosaur in the Carnegie Quarry. For more information: Visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where an adult and juvenile Dryosaurus altus from Dinosaur National Monument are on display. |
Did You Know?
How does an artist recreate a scene from the Jurassic era? Watch this video to see the development of scientific artist Liz Bradford’s painting-from sketches to completion-showing Dinosaur National Monument as it might have looked 150 million years ago. More...