The 10 Most Fascinating Dinosaur Facts In Montana’s History

Montana’s Deep And Lasting Dinosaur History

I think just about all of us go through a dinosaur phase growing up.

Most kids grow out of it, but some take it a step further and become paleontologists. For those people, Montana is a treasure trove of prehistoric history.

Montana Dinosaur Highlights & Major Discoveries

Montana and dinosaurs have a long and fascinating history in America. There have been so many major discoveries here that sometimes it feels like dinosaurs only roamed the Treasure State all those years ago.

With that deep history in mind, the Montana Dinosaur Trail put together a list of the top 10 facts in Montana paleontology history.

What surprised me is that there were so many notable moments; they had to add three bonus facts.

Bonus Moments In Montana Paleontology History

The first bonus is that Dr. Jack Horner, the former Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies, also served as the scientific adviser for all of the “Jurassic Park” movies.

The second bonus is that out of the 14 Montana Dinosaur Trail facilities, three offer public paleontology field dig opportunities. Those are the Montana Dinosaur Center, Great Plains Dinosaur Museum, and the Carter County Museum.

The third and final bonus before we get to the top 10 is that in 2014, fossil bones from the Wankel T. rex, also known as MOR 555 and discovered by Kathy Wankel in 1988, were sent to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on a fifty-year loan.

If you’ve ever been to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, you’ve probably seen Big Mike, the bronze statue of the Wankel T. rex, welcoming visitors at the entrance.

Now let’s get into the top 10 facts from Montana’s paleontology history.