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Mummified dinosaur heads to Texas
2008-01-04
A mummified dinosaur discovered on the Hi-Line is heading to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, where it will be studied and displayed for more than a year. The 77 million-year-old duckbill, complete with fossilized skin and organs, was discovered in the badlands north of Malta during the summer of 2000. The brachylophosaurus, dubbed "Leonardo," is currently being housed in a former automotive shop in Malta called the Dinosaur Field Station. After its stint in Texas, the fossil will return to be the main attraction at the new dinosaur museum opening in Malta in June. Malta dinosaur fans are disappointed that Leonardo will miss the museum's grand opening but say researchers can learn more about the well-preserved fossil in Houston. Until now, scientists have been able to use X-ray technology only on Leonardo's tongue, beak and stomach -- since much of the dinosaur is encapsulated by thick rock. The Houston museum has access to a NASA CT scan machine large enough to examine Leonardo's organs. "It'll be hard for Leonardo to be gone," said Dixie Stordahl, field station manager. "A lot of people come to the field station just to see Leonardo. ... We feel it'll be a good thing in the long run." Carolyn Schmoeckel, president of the Judith River Foundation, leaves for Houston on Monday to work out final contract details. The fundraising board wants to ensure that Leonardo returns by September 2009 and that the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum will have a replica to display for its June 6 grand opening. Leonardo will travel to Texas in March via an air-sealed semi tractor-trailer with special hydraulic shocks and a specially made sarcophagus. The Houston museum has agreed to cover the transportation costs, which include $7,000 for the truck, Schmoeckel said. The Discovery Channel is planning to film the process as part of a documentary on Leonardo and what high-tech research has revealed about how dinosaurs lived. The Judith River Foundation is working on a deal to show the film at the Malta museum opening. Once Leonardo returns to Malta, the replica will begin a tour of the country. "I think it's great," said foundation board member Jack Millar. "It'll give the Malta community and museum a lot of favorable publicity. It'll help bring people here when (Leonardo) returns." Millar said the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum should be finished by April, giving organizers roughly a month to assemble the exhibits. The museum will display many of Murphy's Malta-area discoveries, including a family of stegosauruses. A $500,000 allocation from the state Legislature paid for the first phase of the project. The county and area economic development groups are working to raise roughly $3 million in grants and donations to complete the next two phases.
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