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Dinosaur Skull (Camarasaurus sp.)
Morrison Formation, Jurassic Period
L 48.2, H 22.6, cm.
DINO 2580
Dinosaur National Monument
Photo Credit: Tom Ricketts, NPS, Dinosaur NM
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Dinosaurs at Dinosaur National Monument
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This skull of the plant-eating dinosaur Camarasaurus is one of the most complete skulls of this reptile ever found. The public can see it, as naturally deposited 150 million years ago, on the rock wall in the Quarry Visitor Center at Dinosaur National Monument. It is one of more than 1,400 dinosaur bones that make up the historic Douglass Quarry, which was first discovered in 1909 by paleontologist Earl Douglass of the Carnegie Museum. Finding dinosaur skulls is rare, due, in part, to the fragile paper-thin struts of bones that make up a substantial part of the skull. This skull, found much like it was when the dinosaur was alive, is still attached to the end of the dinosaur's neck. The fact that the bones are preserved in life position, or articulated, makes this find even rarer and more significant.
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