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| Tracks and bones exist side-by-side at the "SI" dig site. One predatory dinosaur's three-toed footprint is marked in red—can you find another? | ||
Finding and digging up fossils is the first step of the paleontological process. Warm Springs Ranch, where the Wyoming Dinosaur Center is located, holds over 60 identified dig sites in a 500-acre area.
Most of the fossil-bearing sediments on the ranch are part of the Morrison Formation from the Late Jurassic—over 140 million years old! These hold many of the most famous dinosaurs: Allosaurus, Apatosaurus (also known as Brontosaurus), Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus. Fossils are also found in the even older Sundance Formation, which was deposited when a vast sea covered the North American interior, including Wyoming. Here one can find fossil shells, squid "pencaps", and occasionally bones from marine reptiles.
At the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, you can learn more about our dig sites on a Dig Site Tour, or even do some digging yourself by signing up for one of our programs, such as Dig For a Day. You could find a dinosaur!