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MT. BLANCO FOSSIL MUSEUM AND CASTING COMPANY

Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, 124 W. Main, P.O. Box 550, Crosbyton, TX 79322 (806) 675-7777 (806) 675-2421 (Fax)

BuiltWithNOF

UPDATE ON COLORADO ALLOSAUR DIG

Below is a press release from Vision Forum (May 2002) on the Allosaur dig. Joe Taylor was involved in the excavation of the Allosaur skull and other remains described in this report.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE VISION FORUM, INC.

HOME SCHOOL  EXPEDITION UNCOVERS RARE ALLOSAUR and GIANT SAUROPOD

>COLORADO, May 20 -- A dinosaur fossil expedition for home educators sponsored by Vision Forum and Creation Expeditions has excavated a rare, large, intact Allosaurus measuring more than 22 feet in length, 10 feet in height, with a complete skull more than a yard long. Allosaurs  are believed to be a close relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, and differ from the T. rex primarily in size and cranial capacity.
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Under the leadership of Vision Forum president Doug Phillips, an adjunct professor of apologetics with the Institute for Creation Research, and Peter DeRosa, a veteran archaeologist and paleontologist with Creation Expeditions, the team of thirty home educators spent a week hunting for and excavating fossils in a privately owned location in the Skull Creek Basin of Northwest Colorado.
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Of the thirty-seven Allosaurs which have been discovered around the globe, only  thirteen have been found with more than twenty-five percent of the fossilized remains intact. Of those thirteen, only three complete skulls  have ever been recovered. The Skull Creek Allosaur not only provides the  world with the fourth complete skull, but nearly seventy percent of the animal has already been found which lends credence to speculation that it may prove to be the best-preserved and most fully-articulated allosaur yet to be excavated. "Most people do not realize  that there is a tremendous paucity of dinosaur bones available to scientists," said Doug Phillips. "Ninety-five percent of all the fossils in the world are marine invertebrates. Ninety-five percent of the  remaining five percent are plants. The vast majority of the rest of the  fossil record is fish and insects. Only a fraction of a percent of the remaining fossil record includes land vertebrates, and those finds usually consist of less than one bone. To find a complete Allosaur is  simply historic."
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>FOSSILS POINT to RELATIVELY RECENT and CATASTROPHIC BURIAL

 The significance of the find arises not only from its rarity, but also from the circumstances surrounding the death of the animal. "The  evidence strongly points to a relatively recent and catastrophic event similar to that described in the Bible as the Flood of Noah's day," said Pete DeRosa. "We found a complete section of vertebrae more  than twelve feet in length which was fully articulated. The dinosaur  appears to be in much thesame position as he was at the time of his  death and burial, which must have been virtually instantaneous, and  caused by a catastrophic event. Not only was this fully articulated  dinosaur found laying in a bed of leaves and plant debris, but there is wood from trees mixed in among the bones, some of which contains petrified and non-petrified elements in the same piece of wood. If this  creature were millions of years old, the evidence would look quite different."
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The discovery of such a valuable dinosaur by creation scientists could send shockwaves through the scientific community. Phillips notes that "up to now, a well-funded and insular  community of evolutionary theorists have dominated the field of  paleontology, directing most of the large dinosaur finds to research and museums committed to interpreting the fossil evidence through the faith-driven assumptions of evolution.  To have a dinosaur of this size and significance within the camp of scientists committed to the creation model is nothing short of a coup d'etat."
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The  DeRosas, who have a contract on the fossil rights to the property and  own the right to the material they excavate, had been working the site well in advance of the arrival of the home school expedition. Their preliminary work over a period of months led them to believe that they had an allosaurus, but it was not until the Vision Forum home  school expedition arrived and preformed the heavy lifting of moving a lot of dirt, that evidence was found to validate their  suspicions.
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HOME SCHOOL FATHER FINDS ALLOSAURUS  SKULL
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As often happens with fossil expeditions, the discovery of the Allosaur skull came at the last moment of the last day of the trip. With just minutes to go before calling quits on the expedition, Dr. Bruce Bellamy, a home school father from Clinton, Missouri, broke dirt on whatwould prove to be the neck vertebrae leading up to the skull. "I placed a $250 bounty on anyone who found the skull," Phillips said. "It was just a small incentive for my team, of course. The actual skull could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."
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Last week, Pete DeRosa brought in a fresh team of professional
excavators to plaster jack the skull and remove it from the ground forlaboratory preservation. It is not yet known when the skull will be available for viewing.
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GIANT "BEHEMOTH" SAUROPOD  UNCOVERED
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 Dr. Bellamy was not the only one to uncover a last minute prize. Just yards away on a second site, nine-year-old home schooler Haley Meadows  was dusting away dirt with her brush when she found the claws to a 100-foot Sauropod, presently believed to be of the rare Ultrasaurus  variety. "What is amazing about this sauropod is the fact that it constitutes an entire hill," Phillips said. "This is an enormous and impressive creature. Everywhere we dig, we seem to be finding more bones -- from six-foot femurs to ribs to vertebrae.
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>HOME SCHOOL ADVENTURE TURNS INTO HISTORY-MAKING EXCAVATION

 Excavating a  fully articulated dinosaur is a highly specialized,expensive, and technical task -- for which the DeRosa family was well prepared. "We were blessed to be under the supervision of Pete  DeRosa and his entire staff from Creation Expeditions," Phillips said.  "These guys are a top-notch team with hundreds of digs behind them and more than a decade of experience working on some of the most interesting fossil sites in the world. I think everyone was impressed by their professionalism, their knowledge, and their passion for  excellence."
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Home educators paying $995 per person were treated to a rare opportunity to study dinosaurs, learn excavation techniques, and actually uncover world-class dinosaur bones on a privately owned site once described by National Geographic as one of the  fifty best fossil dig sites in the world. "The home  schoolers on this trip paid for the privilege of shoveling dirt, hacking at rocks, and the possibility that some of them might uncover dinosaur  bones," Phillips said. "Many of our guests came with minimal expectations, but the dig proved successful beyond the imagination of both trip sponsors and participants. There is not one child in a million  who gets an opportunity like this. This is what home education is all  about."
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"Learning paleontology and excavation techniques from a godly, highly experienced team of expert paleontologists, has not  just been a highlight of our family's home school experience, but one of the greatest experiences God has ever given to my family," Phillips  said.  "I have been lecturing on dinosaurs and creation for  years, but this was the first time I ever had the thrill of sitting with my boys on the edge of a cliff and uncovering a behemoth femur or a Stegosaurus plate," Phillips said. "It is difficult to describe the  exhilaration to know that you are uncovering something very similar to the animal described by Job as the great 'behemoth,' an animal which in  this case died and was buried during the Flood of Noah's day, and which has remained unseen by the eyes of man for thousands of years. Incredible!"
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THE FOSSIL SITE MAY YIELD GREATER DISCOVERIES YET

For many, the  fact that creation scientists have broken through the monopoly on  paleontology with access to such a fossil-rich treasure trove is the real story. "The story behind the location of this site is perhaps the greatest miracle," said DeRosa. "Through a series of remarkable events, more than 120 acres fell into the hands of the  current owners, a Christian home schooling couple committed to biblical  creationism.” The owners, an evangelical Christian couple  who home educate their own children, have been approached by museums, television networks, and leading evolutionists who have expressed a  strong interest in the fossils found on the property. "I am sure the evolutionists would love to get their hands on these bones. Who can blame them," Phillips said. "It is like a goldmine for paleontologists." Creation Expeditions, which believes the land may contain dozens of more fully articulated dinosaurs, hopes to be  excavating the site for years.
 

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