By Michelle Gifford
BYU is well known for its football tradition and premium ice cream, but few know that BYU is host to one of the world?s largest Jurassic dinosaur bone collections.
BYU?s Earth Science Museum, located just west of the LaVell Edwards Stadium, is home to more than 4,000 dinosaur bones.
Rod Scheetz, who became the museum curator for BYU?s Earth Science Museum a year ago, said paleontology is an opportunity for him to experience constant discovery.
?We open up the block or the package, and it is discovery all over again,? Scheetz said. ?They are things that no one has seen for 100 million years, and it is exciting. It is like opening a book that nobody has read yet.?
As curator for the museum, Scheetz is responsible for collecting, preparing and numbering the bones.
?My main task is stewardship over the collection, because we are a designated depository,? Scheetz said. ?We care for specimens that have been collected on public lands, mostly Colorado and Utah. They belong to citizens and are just ours to care for.?
At the museum, visitors can see full dinosaur skeletons and can watch paleontologists performing excavations using vacuums, hammers and toothbrushes on the dinosaur bones.
?A lot of people think that are fragile, but they get broken so often we just glue them back together,? said Anne Dangerfield, student researcher at the museum. ?I can?t count how many times I have broken dino bones.?
The majority of the bones were quarried in the Dry Mesa Quarry in Colorado or in Moab.
Scheetz has been working along side of Brooks Britt, BYU professor of geology and paleontology, at a quarry site north of Moab for the museum. From this site, they have excavated 4,200 bones from nine different species of dinosaurs. This find has given insight on interaction between different invertebrates.
?Any type of paleontology is fascinating,? Britt said. ?It gives you a panoramic view of life through time.?
Both professors share their love for paleontology with students they mentor. They have students who help with research, excavation and preparing bones.
?It is incredibly satisfying to see someone who is excited to see the same things you are,? Scheetz said.
BONE CRUNCHING FACTS
These ancient creatures have fascinated man for years:
-- Longest dinosaur:
Seismosaurus 150 feet long
-- Heaviest:
Argentinasaurus 220,000 pounds
-- Most popular:
T-rex