Why Dig in Montana?

By: Andy Rich

People often ask, “Why do so many people come all the way to Montana for fossils?” Montana seems to have a little bit of everything when it comes to fossils. From ancient fish, fabulous dinosaurs, mighty elephants, and so much more, Montana was home to a diverse range of wonderful organisms. The quality of these discoveries often times outshines the abundance of fossil types. The Two Medicine Formation of Montana, our museum’s specialty, Is one of seven formations world wide. It’s also the formation the first ever baby dinosaur fossils were discovered in, by our museum. Outside of the Two Medicine Formation paleontologists have found the holotype of T. rex in Montana, the first blood gorged fossil mosquito, and the dinosaur mummy named Leonardo.

So the answer is simple. We come to Montana because the quality and quantity of fossils is insanely amazing. The Montana Dinosaur Center offers everyone a chance to dig some of the wonderful fossils found in Montana. We take people to our dig site and given them a chance to handle ~78 million year old dinosaurs, ancient snails, and in rarer instances lizard and plant fossils!

By Andy Rich

Andrew "Andy" Rich is a paleontologist who focuses on vertebrate taphonomy. This is the study of how vertebrate material fossilizes and is preserved. He got his bachelors of science with honors in geology at Beloit College and his masters of science in paleontology at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Andy has worked on a wide range of animals, including placoderm fishes, mosasaurs, sauropods, hadrosaurs, tyrannosaurs, ankylosaurs, and more.

Book a Dig