Choteau in Teton County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Egg Mountain
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 12, 2022
1. Egg Mountain Marker
Inscription.
Egg Mountain. . In 1978, rock - shop owner Marion Brandvold found a group of small bones that paleontologists Jack Horner and Bob Makela later identified as baby bones belonging to a new species of duck - billed dinosaur. Horner and Makela named the new species Maiasaura peeblesorum, the good mother reptile. The site where the Maiasaura bones were found was named Egg Mountain, and has since yielded the largest cache of dinosaur eggs, embryos, and baby skeletons found in the Western Hemisphere. The site has also yielded one of the largest concentrations of adult dinosaur skeletons found in the world. Paleontologists have interpreted this accumulation as a gigantic herd of Maiasaura that died in a catastrophic event, possibly resulting from a volcanic eruption or a hurricane. Beside Maiasaura, a little meat - eating dinosaur named Troodon also nested at the Egg Mountain site. Its eggs indicate that they were brooded similar to birds, by direct contact of the parent. About 76 million years ago, when Maiasaura and Troodon lived in this area, the Rocky Mountains were just beginning to form to the west, and a shallow ocean existed 300 miles to the east. The dinosaurs nested near lakes and streams on a fern covered coastal plain. Maiasaura is Montana's state fossil
In 1978, rock - shop owner Marion Brandvold found a group of small bones that paleontologists Jack Horner and Bob Makela later identified as baby bones belonging to a new species of duck - billed dinosaur. Horner and Makela named the new species Maiasaura peeblesorum, the good mother reptile. The site where the Maiasaura bones were found was named Egg Mountain, and has since yielded the largest cache of dinosaur eggs, embryos, and baby skeletons found in the Western Hemisphere. The site has also yielded one of the largest concentrations of adult dinosaur skeletons found in the world. Paleontologists have interpreted this accumulation as a gigantic herd of Maiasaura that died in a catastrophic event, possibly resulting from a volcanic eruption or a hurricane. Beside Maiasaura, a little meat - eating dinosaur named Troodon also nested at the Egg Mountain site. Its eggs indicate that they were brooded similar to birds, by direct contact of the parent. About 76 million years ago, when Maiasaura and Troodon lived in this area, the Rocky Mountains were just beginning to form to the west, and a shallow ocean existed 300 miles to the east. The dinosaurs nested near lakes and streams on a fern covered coastal plain. Maiasaura is Montana's state fossil
Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Paleontology. A significant historical year for this entry is 1978.
Location. 47° 42.934′ N, 112° 13.55′ W. Marker is in Choteau, Montana, in Teton County. Marker is on U.S. 287 at milepost 58, on the left when traveling north. The marker is approximately 7 miles south of Chouteau. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Choteau MT 59422, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . 1. Troodon - Wikipedia. Troödon in older sources) is a wastebasket taxon and dubious genus of relatively small, bird-like dinosaurs known definitively from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (about 77 mya).(Submitted on April 10, 2023, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
2. Maiasaura -- Prehistoric Wildlife. Maiasaura might appear to be a rather plain looking hadrosaurid, but its real importance is not about its looks but upon the remains of nests that members of this genus created. One of the most significant
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 12, 2022
2. Egg Mountain Marker
fossil sites associated with Maiasaura is an area that we know today as ‘Egg Mountain’. Here a concentration of nests spread apart at distances of around seven meters from each other, each containing around thirty to forty eggs about fifteen centimetres across were found with multiple remains of Maiasaura scattered around them. (Submitted on April 10, 2023, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 12, 2022
3. Egg Mountain is out there, somewhere.
Photographed By Dinsaurpictures.org
4. Maiasaua
Photographed By Thoughtco.com
5. Troodon
Credits. This page was last revised on April 10, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 10, 2023, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 293 times since then and 74 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 10, 2023, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.