The Paleo-Incident Project

In 2006, a team of private fossil collectors from N.E. Montana happened upon one of the greatest discoveries in paleontology history, named the "Paleo-Incident Project"(PIP). This website will follow the project from start to finish. The project is estimated to take between 2-3 years. The PIP has several goals. The main goal is to prepare the original fossils and create molds from those fossils to record all of the scientific information. A second goal is to involve dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages to participate in the project. Through online interactive media, the PIP will call on everyone to be involved. There will be web-cam's to follow the project and chat rooms to talk with the fossil preparators and with the discovery team. The PIP is just starting! Keep checking back as this site and the project grows.

The Discovery Team & Story

Excavation

Preparation

Science

Replicas & Gift Items

The Excavation...

C Morrow - I arrived at the site not knowing what to expect. Clayton took me over the edge and I saw an articulated plant eater. I was very impressed, the articulation was better than I had ever seen for an animal of this size. I waled to the head and noticed it was Ceratopsian right away. The area was Judith River, and I normally worked in the Hell Creek. Clayton showed me that there were no horn cores present. He had collected the material at the base of the hill and collected a majorit of the frill that was exposed, but no horn cores. The nasal appears to be complete, only have a very rugose (rough) surface. This surface appears to cover the orbits (eyes). This is very exciting! Image: The image to the left is of the quarry before it was jacketed in the summer of 2006. The main points you see are the articulated tail and right leg of the Ceratopsian. Follow forward on the animal and you will see the base of the dentary's at the end. At the end of the tail is the meat eater. Its left leg is stretched out to the left. In the center of the block is the gastralia and right hand. The tail curls around and goes under the Ceratopsians tail and right hind leg. The hip of the Ceratopsian is pushed up. The left hid leg is present, curled upward. This may be the reason for the hip position. The "death pose" of the meat eater is abnormal. Usually it is on a much flatter plane. This specimen has a large backward curve to the neck, but not in normal position. It appears like the animal was on top of something and formed around it. NEXT.......(Note: there will be a lot of images. you can always get back here by clicking on the excavation link on the top navigation bar) New Images Added - See Table Below

Set 1. - You get a great view of the Ceratopsian from this angle. You can see the right rib cage,	Set 2. - Here is Clayton's daughter, Julie.  Julie worked along with her dad many	Set 3. - This picture is one of my favorites. The right leg of the Ceratopsian was the  most
Set 4. - Looking like the Gobi, this picture features the upside-down carnivore	Set 5. - If finding a carnivore and a herbivore together was not enough, check out this picture. While removing some	Set 6. - Here is an image of the Ceratopsian  right dentary and nasal.
Set 7. - Text to be added	Set 8. - Text to be added	Set 9. -  Text to be added
Set 10. - Here is a picture of the quarry about two-thirds through the excavation. You can see	Set 11. - Here is a picture of the quarry when it was ready for jacketing.	Set 12. - Here is a shot of the back section of the Ceratopsian and the carnivore. What a sight
Set 13. - Another great image of  the beautiful articulation of the Ceratopsian	Set 14. - If you look close in this image, you can see the right ischium! Also,	Set 15. - Great shot of the right lower  foot. See images below - 11 images of the fossils in-situ!
Set 16. - Time for plaster! 17 images of the PIP Project getting plastered!	Set 17. - More Plastering and preparing the jackets for removal	Set 18. - More Plastering and preparing the jackets for removal
Set 19. - Great Images 19 pictures	Set 20. - More great pictures 19	Set 21. - More pictures -

CK-Preparations will be directing the preparation of the PIP project. Visit them online at www.ckpreparations.com. If you have any questions for them, you can email them at chris@ckpreparations.com