DemonTengu
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(3/27/04 11:06 am)
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dinosaur makes big impression
www.thespectrum.com/news/...52089.html
QUOTE
Dinosaur makes big impression at Johnson Farm track site
By JANE ZHANG - jzhang@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE -- When Sally Stephenson cleaned up the dust a
week ago, no one suspected she was looking at an area where a
dinosaur's rear end had rested.
But there it was, exposed as a bed of red rock with clear imprints
of the heel, pelvis, tail and shuffling feet. The fossil, found on the
Johnson Farm Dinosaur Track Site near Riverside Drive, also
provided paleontologists with the first worldwide discovery of
tracks indicating a squatting dinosaur with claws turned toward the
middle.
The Early Jurassic animal, estimated to weigh up to 1,000 pounds
and stand at 18 feet long and 6 feet high at the hip, likely crouched
there on the shore after eating fish in nearby deep water, said
Andrew Milner, city paleontologist for the Johnson Farm Dinosaur
Track Site. Between 200 million and 205 million years ago, he
said, the track site was believed to be part of "Lake Dixie," which
stretched hundreds of miles.
"He sat down," said Milner, who bent down and put his hands
inside the imprints to mimic the dinosaur's behavior in a possible
scenario. "He crouched forward to get up and left a second
squatting trace in front of it. And then he stood up and walked. As
he walked, he dragged his tail."
The March 17 discovery has capped a flurry of recent findings at
the Johnson Farm, which also included 15 dinosaur teeth, shark
spines and bones of Coelacanth, a prehistoric 5-foot-long fish
once thought to be extinct but found living off the east coast of
South Africa. Since Sheldon Johnson's first discovery in February
2000, the site has grown into North America's largest site for Early
Jurassic footprints, most famous for its three-toed footprints of
Eubrontes.
As thousands of tourists, scientists and students flock to the site
each year, government officials also have taken notice of the rare
findings, which are stored in the open air and threatened by heat,
rain and wind.
Last month, the City of St. George broke ground for a
16,000-square-foot dinosaur tracks museum, funded by $500,000
from the federal government, $400,000 from the state, $150,000
each from Washington County and the city. Bud Mahas
Construction, which will build the $1.2 million project, is likely to
start moving dirt in April, said Kent Perkins, St. George Leisure
Services director.
The city employs two part-time employees for the site, Milner and
volunteer coordinator Theresa Walker, said Gary Sanders, St.
George community arts and exhibits administrator. Before the
construction begins, Milner, Walker and volunteers have been
busy moving fossils off the main site. With 18 preparation work
volunteers and 12 tour guides, Walker said the site is seeking more
volunteers.
Stephenson, who became a volunteer two months ago, learned
how to mark dinosaur tracks with chalk Wednesday at the
Johnson Farm. When she first saw the pelvic imprints, she said she
knew they were something different but "had no idea" how big a
discovery it was.
"He's walking this way, that way," Stephenson said, putting one
foot above the other. "Then all of a sudden, he stopped there."
In the past week, she said she has worked after hours to clean up
the area.
"If I can find more," she said. "I have to find some more."
Jim Kirkland, the state paleontologist who frequently visits and
studies the site, said the new discovery proved dinosaurs had
claws that turned toward the middle, contrary to the conventional
assumption. That alone is worth a scientific paper, he said.
"That's why I'm going crazy," said Kirkland, who is also working
on dinosaur books with Milner. "This is really neat. It's
extraordinarily rare to find something like this."
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