ST. GEORGE, Utah — A paleontological dig site in St. George has been saved from development after the city agreed to relocate a planned electrical substation, allowing scientists to continue their work indefinitely.
The city had initially given paleontologists until the end of April to excavate as many fossils as possible from the site near the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Museum before construction began.
"We're supposed to be meeting with the city this afternoon to go over and pinpoint the exact location of the substation," said Andrew Milner, lead paleontologist at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site, said Monday.
Milner said more than 375 volunteers worked at the site in the last two months from as far as Europe and Canada.
"It's an incredible locality... right after the Triassic mass extinction... [which] allowed dinosaurs to diversify and become the dominant animals on the planet," said Milner.
Mad dash for St. George dinosaur discoveries yields groundbreaking finds:
The site has already yielded more than 1,095 fossil specimens, including previously undiscovered species of dinosaurs, sharks and fish.
"These are species that have never been," said Milner.
At the tail end of April, a new layer containing hundreds of dinosaur tracks was found that may have been lost to history without the reprieve.
"We discovered underneath the fish bed... a brand new dinosaur track layer which preserves hundreds and hundreds of swimming dinosaur tracks as well as actual footprints," said Milner.
"We're learning so much about this early Jurassic Lake and the animals and plants that lived in and around the lake," said Milner.
The site is particularly significant because it dates to approximately 201.3 million years ago, immediately following the Triassic mass extinction event that allowed dinosaurs to diversify and become Earth's dominant land animals for the next 165 million years.
The museum is now taking a break from the summer heat before resuming digging operations in the fall. It’s also to catalog and take note of what has been found so far, which the museum is having trouble finding all the space for.
"The support we received was incredible. As well as universities and museums across the country that jumped in to assist us with professional help," said Milner.
