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It's been million years since the last Jurassic dinosaurs roamed the planet. Millennia have The Big Dinosaur Dig and today on the prairies of northern Wyoming, USA, it is hot and arid. At a glance, away from the isolated towns, the landscape is devoid of The Big Dinosaur Dig save juniper, sagebrush and the occasional rattlesnake or black widow spider. But evidence of a prehistoric world filled with lush greenery, dinosaurs and a variety of other extinct animals are just below the rocky surface. In summerscientists from the Natural History Museum, Londonset out for Wyoming to help reveal what has been hidden for millions of years. Dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic Period around million years ago are arguably some of the world's best known. They include DiplodocusStegosaurus and Allosaurus - or, as Museum dinosaur researcher Dr Susannah Maidment puts it, 'all of the ones you knew when you were seven'. But there is still plenty about these widely recognised animals and the world they lived in The Big Dinosaur Dig we don't fully understand. The first team from the Museum to arrive in Wyoming inled by Prof Paul Barrett, marked crossing the state border with a photo. Mission Jurassic is a project led by the Children's The Big Dinosaur Dig of Indianapolis, which aims not only to dig up dinosaur fossils for display, but also to learn as much as possible about what western North America was like million years ago. Two teams from the Natural History Museum joined the project in to help explore the The Big Dinosaur Dig Mile - a square mile in northern Wyoming - bringing along experts in fossil preparation, microvertebrates, palaeobotany, fossil fish and marine invertebrates. After two weeks on site, a second group from the Museum, led by Dr Susannah Maidment, took over from Prof Barrett and his team. Prof Barrett says, 'All of the Mission Jurassic partners brought with them people who are either specialists in different scientific areas or have expertise in doing these kinds of excavations. From approximately million years ago, a shallow sea known as the Sundance Sea covered much of western North America. It was connected to the ocean by a narrow channel that stretched north for over a thousand miles. As this sea withdrew, it was replaced by rivers and floodplains which deposited sediments and formed the rocks known as the Morrison Formation. Today only a small amount of this approximately 1. The Morrison Formation yellow stretches across roughly 1. The two dinosaur footprints on the map represent the The Big Dinosaur Dig location The Big Dinosaur Dig the Jurassic Mile in Wyoming orange. Dr Maidment says, 'During the Late Jurassic Period, about million years ago, this area of Wyoming was a broad, shallow plain inhabited by dinosaurs like StegosaurusDiplodocus and Allosaurus. There were forests and plants - it would have been quite a green landscape. On the Jurassic Mile, evidence of these prehistoric reptiles is scattered across the landscape, with fossilised bones naturally weathering out of rocks and tumbling down the hillsides almost everywhere you look, and even more being slowly dug out of two quarries. The Jurassic Mile is exceptionally rich in dinosaur fossils and the teams found lots of evidence of bones across the site. As well as the dinosaur- bearing Morrison Formation rocks, a large swathe of rocks laid down by the earlier sea are also exposed. Some of the rocks of the Sundance Formation were deposited within a calm lagoon in exceptionally thin layers called paper shales. Palaeontologists can gently tease the layered rocks apart by hand or with tools to find The Big Dinosaur Dig and ancient animals, such as small fish and insects, fossilised The Big Dinosaur Dig them. Fossil fish curator Emma Bernard says, 'The rock is very finely laminated. It's almost like the pages of a book. So we had to be really careful when we were excavating. The team also found abundances of belemnites, Gryphaea and oysters at different layers within the Sundance Formation, providing evidence of different marine environments. Fossil invertebrates curator Dr Tim The Big Dinosaur Dig explains, 'Oysters are strange animals that can live in parts of the sea that other animals find difficult, whether because of the salinity, temperature The Big Dinosaur Dig even the roughness of the water. As they are one of the few organisms capable of tolerating extreme environments and grow quite quickly, oysters can dominate an area. You can end up with very thick beds of oysters. The accumulations of different fossils found throughout the Sundance Formation, on the Jurassic Mile and elsewhere, provide evidence that sea levels and conditions changed considerably over time. In one layer of the Sundance Formation, the team came across thousands of Gryphaea carpeting The Big Dinosaur Dig hillside. These now-extinct animals are also known as devil's toenails. Dinosaur hunting can be quite low-tech. Palaeontologists can spend hours walking through a site and staring at the ground, searching for clues that a dinosaur might be hidden in the rocks below. We don't just go outside and find beautiful skeletons lying on the surface. It takes The Big Dinosaur Dig bit of practice,' says Prof Barrett. Bernard explains, 'Sometimes it can be tough to tell a rock from a fossil, and you have to really get your eye in. But one of the best ways to tell is to try and find anything black and shiny in the rock - that can often be a good indication of a tooth or scale. Although the The Big Dinosaur Dig experts are seasoned professionals, finding a fossil in the field is still an exciting experience. But there are more than just dinosaurs in the Morrison Formation. Finding fossilised plants could help scientists to understand more about Jurassic ecosystems. Palaeobotanist Dr Paul Kenrick explains, 'One of the really nice things about the Jurassic Mile is that you've got the bones of dinosaurs together with the plants. That really gives us the context of where these animals lived. You commonly get leaves and fossilised wood. But one of the most common you can't actually see in the field - these are pollen grains and spores, which you have to take back to the lab and dissolve the rock. Plant life in Morrison time would have been much more productive than what is found in the semi-desert conditions of Wyoming today. There would have been predominantly tall conifers with an understory of ferns and small shrubs, as grass and flowering plants hadn't evolved million years ago. The Big Dinosaur Dig dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were huge animals. Understanding the The Big Dinosaur Dig these herbivores would have relied on The Big Dinosaur Dig help scientists to answer key questions, such as how these reptiles were able to grow to their colossal sizes. Although palaeontologists know that the rocks of the Jurassic Mile are around million years old, determining a more specific age is challenging - but that's exactly what Dr Maidment intends to do. In marine sediments, scientists can use fossilised microscopic organisms to correlate rocks from one place to another, sometimes accurately determining their age. But because the Morrison sediments were laid down on land, this approach won't work. But that's also difficult because there's not very much ash here,' explains Dr Maidment. Dr Maidment uses a hand lens to get an up-close look at a rock sample from The Big Dinosaur Dig bottom of the Morrison Formation. Instead she and PhD student Joe Bonsor have logged the style of sediments to help compare the terrestrial rocks to those in other The Big Dinosaur Dig. Bonsor says, 'We want to work out the geological history of the area. We want to know what the environment was like when the dinosaurs lived all those millions of years ago. We then piece all The Big Dinosaur Dig that together and that feeds into the wider picture'. The Jurassic Mile has been explored by the Children's Museum in previous years. When Prof Barrett and his crew arrived in Wyoming intheir first job was to begin clearing the site, which had spent the winter buried under a protective layer of rocks. Prof Barrett says, 'We got into the quarries and started shifting rock and sweeping down the surfaces so that we could see The Big Dinosaur Dig was The Big Dinosaur Dig on. Once they had reached the bone bed, they slowed down and began to painstakingly reveal ancient animals millimetre by millimetre - a job Dr Maidment and her crew continued when they arrived on site two weeks later. Mark Graham is the Natural History Museum's senior The Big Dinosaur Dig preparator. His day-to-day role involves working with the fossils that palaeontologists bring back from expeditions. But on Mission Jurassic, he got to dig The Big Dinosaur Dig the bones himself. He says, 'It was fantastic on the first day to uncover a scapula of one of these gigantic dinosaurs, and later to find a large claw bone. So exposing and stabilising them in the quarry is a slight role reversal for me. Finding large The Big Dinosaur Dig bones isn't easy, but it's nothing compared to uncovering those of smaller animals, such as amphibians and mammals, which lived alongside them. Finding microvertebrates is an important part of understanding what the environment would have been like in a particular area millions of years ago. A vertebrate is anything with a backbone. Microvertebrates are the parts of vertebrate animals, such as teeth or small bones, that have to be identified using a microscope. It can be difficult to tell whether you're looking at a habitat the dinosaurs lived in, such as a coastal plain or forest, or where carcasses were washed to after death. But by finding other fossils around the dinosaur bones, you might get a better idea. Microvertebrate sieving machine aka 'Hank' is all set up and good to go after several visits to the hardware store. He says, 'My initial interest is the evolution of sharks, but in order to collect sharks, I have to do a lot of sieving. So I developed an automated sieving machine that gently removes whatever is in the sediment without The Big Dinosaur Dig damage. Led by Dr Ward, the Mission Jurassic team constructed Hank, a field-based machine to speed up the microvertebrate sieving process. Hank mimics The Big Dinosaur Dig natural weathering process. It creates an artificial rainstorm with lawn sprinklers that spray water onto sediment samples to wash away clay and reveal tiny fossils. An opportunity to experience a real dinosaur dig is rare. For many, getting involved would be a dream come true. Lead scientist Prof Phil Manning of the University of Manchester and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis says, 'I would have sawn off limbs to have this kind of experience as a student. Of the few students invited to join the dig, he says, 'I think it will have immeasurable positive outcomes in their careers, having taken part in an excavation like this. We think it was a small piece of rib or part of a backbone,' explains Bonsor. I was able to excavate the whole thing, wrap it in plaster and package it up safely. Leite says, 'It was a really cool experience and I tried to learn as much as I could. I was digging, prospecting and jacketing bones - all the sorts of things you can imagine happen on a dinosaur dig. The PhD students have each taken part in non-palaeontological fieldwork previously, but Mission Jurassic offered up some brand-new experiences. We had three international groups joining together with people with different expertise and specialities. Having that kind of collaboration is really great. I had no idea what to expect. NHMdino phdlife pic. The conditions on the Jurassic Mile were challenging at times and both teams faced delays due to regular downpours. Dr Ewin says, 'If you don't evacuate the site immediately when it rains, the roads can become very treacherous and very muddy - much more so than I'd appreciated. Large weather systems passed over the site regularly throughout the Museum's time in Wyoming. The Big Dinosaur Dig (DK Readers Level 3 Series) by Esther Ripley, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Kids' Club Eligible. NOOK Book. Home 1 Kids' Books 2. Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. Overview Travel to the Sahara Desert with Josh Smith, real- life archeologist, as he and his crew of intrepid dinosaur hunters face fierce sandstorms, long hours of difficult work, and, finally, the joy of discovering a The Big Dinosaur Dig species of dinosaur! Product Details About the Author. Related Searches. Children who can read on their own will love Ape Adventures. Recounting actual ape- human interactions Recounting actual ape-human interactions and highlighting our complex relationship to these fascinating creatures, this book features complex sentence structure, information boxes, alphabetical glossary, and a comprehensive index, all of View Product. Do these monsters really exist? Read the amazing true stories in this Level 3 DK Read the amazing true stories in this Level 3 DK Reader—then decide for yourself! Stunning photographs combine with lively illustrations and engaging, age-appropriate stories in DK Readers, a multilevel reading program guaranteed to capture children's A new park is being built. See big machines in action and See big machines in action and find out what they do. The bestselling DK Readers series has a The Big Dinosaur Dig new look featuring redesigned jackets and interiors, The bestselling DK Readers series has a fresh new look featuring redesigned jackets and interiors, and up-to-date vocabulary throughout. In DK Readers, stunning photographs combine with lively illustrations and engaging age-appropriate stories, creating a multilevel reading program guaranteed to capture The page Level 3 books, designed for children who can read on What's your emergency? From flashing lights and blaring sirens to K-9 units and EMTs, emergency From flashing lights and blaring sirens The Big Dinosaur Dig K-9 units and EMTs, emergency The Big Dinosaur Dig have vital roles in saving lives. Find out The Big Dinosaur Dig it takes to respond to an emergency in Emergency Rescue. Learn police officers' secret radio code, For children who like facts about elephants, or kids interested in Asia and Africa, comes For children who like facts about elephants, or kids interested in Asia and Africa, comes Hope for Elephants, a DK Reader designed to improve reading skills while keeping kids engaged and entertained. In Hope for Elephants, David joins his Grandma Are aliens from other planets visiting Earth? Read these The Big Dinosaur Dig stories of alien encounters—and make Read these amazing stories of The Big Dinosaur Dig encounters—and make up your own DK Readers Level 3 Series. DK Readers L3: The Big Dinosaur Dig | DK US

Pages 52 Page size x pts Year The programme is designed in c. Battle of the Bones Skate! Beautiful illustrations and superb full-color photographs combine with engaging, easy-to-read stories to offer a fresh approach to each subject in the series. Adult participation through the lower levels is very helpful for providing encouragement, discussing storylines, and sounding out unfamiliar words. No matter which level you select, you can be sure that you are helping your child The Big Dinosaur Dig to read, then read to learn! No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission The Big Dinosaur Dig the copyright owner. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. Rex Printing Co. Roger de la Harpe: 35b. Patricia Kane-Vanni: 14t,17cr, 21tr, 33t, 35c. Kenneth Lacovarab. Matt Lamanna:41bc. Jerry Harris: 10t. Mandela A Lyon: The Big Dinosaur Dig. The Natural History Museum, London: 38bl. Tosh Odano: Courtesy of Dinodon, Inc 47br. PA Photos: 46t. Paleontology Museum, Munich: 8bl. Silva Sweden AB:5tr. Joshua Smith: 15t, 28b, 33b. Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian: 4bl, 11, 20t, 21b, 26b, 27t, 29tl, 32cl, 32b, 34t,37cr, 39, 49br. Front jacket: PA Photos. Somewhere in this desert he was hoping to find a treasure trove of dinosaur fossils. In the early s, a fossil hunter had found the bones of huge dinosaurs in part of the Sahara Desert in Egypt. Although this fossil hunter died many years ago, Josh had the map references for one of the dinosaur sites. The GPS beeped repeatedly. It was telling Josh that he had reached the right spot. Global But Josh was puzzled. His favorite dinosaur was Spinosaurus—a carnivore with a huge fin on its back that stood up like a sail. Traveling by camel, Stromer made a trip into the desert to dig out the fossilized bones and take them back to Germany. There were Ernst also giant, solid bones Stromer from a heavyweight sauropod—a planteating dinosaur with a long neck and legs like tree trunks. He went to the University of Pennsylvania to study paleontology, which is the science of studying life on Earth as it was millions of years ago. For his final degree, Josh had to complete a big project and choose a site for a dig. Josh knew exactly where he wanted to go. If he was really lucky he might even find a new dinosaur. Fossil hunters find their bones on every continent—on the plains and grasslands in South America, in the rocky badlands of North The Big Dinosaur Dig, in quarries in Europe, in the desert in Asia, in Australia, and even in the The Big Dinosaur Dig Antarctic. New dinosaurs At least seven new types of dinosaur are discovered every year, revealing more and more about life when dinosaurs ruled the world. But Josh decided that the map reference recorded in his GPS must be wrong. The site was supposed to be at the base of a distinctive cone- shaped mountain called Gebel el Dist, but this was nowhere in sight. It looked like a The Big Dinosaur Dig lying on the sand. The Big Dinosaur Dig need to take a look. He could hardly believe his luck. From its size and shape, Josh guessed it belonged to a large plant eater—perhaps Part of the bone that an Aegyptosaurus. Driving back across the desert, they found Gebel el Dist. The area was littered with pieces of fossilized bone. Josh was very excited. If he could The Big Dinosaur Dig a team to Egypt, who knows what they might find. A film company decided to The Big Dinosaur Dig the trip and make a film about it called The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt. Josh Smith and Matt Lamanna find sponsors 17 The expedition Almost a year later, a dig team of paleontologists and field workers and a film crew rolled into Bawiti, a small mining village in the Bahariya Oasis. Chewie was an expert in preserving fossils. Most people think of deserts as hot places, but in winter it can get very cold. Digging hard kept the team warm during the day, but as soon as the sun went down, it was freezing. There were plenty of small pieces of fossils on the surface of the sand, but when they dug down, there was nothing underneath. Everyone was disappointed. Small pieces of fossils Taking a break from excavating a shallow pit, Chewie studied the horizon. Josh lay flat on his stomach The Big Dinosaur Dig his bandanna tied over his face trying to brush sand from what might be a bone embedded in some rock. Gloves protect hands from jagged rocks, and goggles keep eyes free of stinging sand. A whole dinosaur skeleton before it becomes buried deep in the earth. Minerals and water in the rock turn the bones to stone over time. Movements in the earth gradually push the skeleton toward the surface. Then they use hammers, pickaxes, and drills to get to them. Often the weather does the hard work and the bones end up close to the surface. In the desert, wind and sandstorms wear away the layers of rock. But if no one finds the bones, they crumble away to The Big Dinosaur Dig. Fossil hunters discover the bones. It was right on the surface and there was probably not much underneath it. But why not The Big Dinosaur Dig the team back there to look? Throwing their tools into the SUVs, the fossil hunters, together with the film crew, headed The Big Dinosaur Dig to the new site. Team working at the new site 26 Dinosaur fossils uncovered The bone was lying just as Josh had left it. Not far away the team could see more bones. Grabbing shovels and hammers, the workers began to pick away at the soft rock beneath the sand. Almost immediately they found what they had been searching for—glimpses of large bones embedded in the rock. They had struck dinosaur gold. Josh was chipping along the edge of a large bone using a dental pick and brushes. A The Big Dinosaur Dig feet away Chewie was chiseling out something just as big. Then they realized they were working on two sides of the same bone. It was 5 feet 7 inches 1. The size of its bones told Josh that the sauropod he had found was very big. It normally takes months to dig up the bones of such a large dinosaur, but the team had just three weeks left. Aegyptosaurus Spinosaurus Dinosaur times The earliest dinosaurs lived million years ago. The last ones died out at the end The Big Dinosaur Dig the Cretaceous Period, about 65 million years ago. Then they painted the bone with a special glue to prevent it from crumbling, and covered it with aluminum foil for protection. Next they put on a jacket of bandages and plaster of Paris to protect the bone while they freed The Big Dinosaur Dig from its pedestal and dragged it The Big Dinosaur Dig out of the pit. Chewie drew diagrams to show exactly The Big Dinosaur Dig the bones were lying to help them fit the bones together later. Scapula E The sketch shows the position where the bones were discovered. N Right humerus Vertebrae 6. This meant their sauropod was not standing on dry sand—it was walking in a seaside swamp full of lush plant life. Shifting Earth The surface of Earth shifts constantly. During the age of the dinosaurs, continents collided and broke apart and oceans came and went. Leaf fossil This was more evidence that the dusty desert may have been a very different place million years ago. Fossilized skull bone of a giant coelacanth fish 35 As the days sped by, the pile of rocks and fossilized bones grew. The field workers had shifted five and a half tons. In their plaster jackets, some of the fossils weighed as much as a steel girder. The team winched the heavy ones onto a flatbed truck. On the last night they worked by moonlight. Then the bones had to be shipped back to the U. Josh and his team had dug up a giant. But they would need to do a great deal of research before they knew exactly what kind of giant they had found.