Paleontologists share research and fossil collecting skills at Dino Shindig

Dinosaur enthusiasts from all over the world gathered in Ekalaka for the 12th Annual Dino Shindig July 27th and 28th. The audience learned about dinosaurs of various sizes including the huge Tyrannosaurus rex, the Archaeopteryx, the Hadrosaur and many more. The Dino Shindig event is coordinated by Carter County Museum.

On Saturday, fourteen speakers, many of them paleontologists, presented their latest research findings at the Lutheran Church in Ekalaka. Hiromi Kurosu traveled from Japan to tell about her work at the Amakusa Museum of Goshoura Dinosaur Island, where she is a curator. Hiromi Kurosu's research interest is ceratopsian dinosaurs, including Triceratops.

On March 20, the Amakusa Museum of Goshoura Dinosaur Island signed a sister agreement with Carter County Museum. Dr. Sabre Moore, CCM Executive Director, and Dr. Nathan Carroll, curator of Paleontology at Carter County Museum, attended the grand opening of their new building and participated in the signing. Both museums look forward to many collaborative projects in the future. The Carter County Museum is also a sister museum to Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.

Overall attendance for the 2024 event reached 802 people. Attendance on Saturday was 335 adults and 57 children.

Dr. John Scannella shared his research at Egg Mountain near Choteau, Montana where he has studied the colonial nesting of dinosaurs. This field site produced the first reported dinosaur eggs, embryos, babies, and nesting grounds in the western hemisphere as well as the bones of Montana's State Fossil, the duck-billed Maiasaura. 

"We are looking at how they made their nests. One nest was double layered," said Scannella who is the John Horner Curator of Paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies. Scannella told attendees to keep an eye out for an exhibit at MOR opening next summer about this research.

Fossil preparation in the lab is a time consuming and rewarding job. Lee Hall, the Paleontology Lab and Field Manager at the Museum of the Rockies, spoke about the importance of clean air in the lab. He showed pictures of renovating the Paleontology Preparation Labs at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Museum of the Rockies. Dust and silicone come off fossils as rock is removed. The air filter system vacuums the air so that scientists don't breathe in the particles as they work.

The Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, showed pictures of the museum's Archaeopteryx fossil. One of only two on display in the United States, this fossil has feathers, hollow bones, clawed wings, 50 tiny teeth, and a long bony tail. This is the earliest known dinosaur that also qualifies as a bird.

"The fossil is uncrushed and so well preserved. We have learned so much from the fossil already. We plan to use the fossil for educational purposes and hopefully inspire children that visit the museum to be future scientists," said O'Connor.

Birds are the only group of dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction caused when an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago, according to the Chicago Field Museum website.

More children's activities at the museum included watching Robo Rex crush and slice watermelons and coconuts. Many children water painted a butterfly with the Artist in Residence, Matthew Lee. He has been digging fossils near Ekalaka with Carthage Institute of Paleontology for the last ten years. He had a show of his art of Dinosauria and Montana the schoolhouse at CCM, which closed on July 28. He will return in 2025 with another summer art show at CCM.

After the speakers described the dinosaurs they are researching, it was time for the First Prehistoric Fight Night led by Rextooth Studios from Bozeman. Four of the paleontologists came forward to represent their researched dinosaurs. With lots of audience participation, the "Who Would Win between Tyrannosaurus rex vs. Palaeomastodon?" and other prehistoric battles began. The square offs continued as each researcher described the brain structure, claws, and other fighting characteristics of their animal.

CCM's Nathan Carroll represented Pterosaurs which had a very slender pointed beak and has a wing span of about 8 feet. They are the first vertebrates to fly. Size, bite strength, body protective adaptions, and ability to move quickly were more of the characteristics compared. Who do you think would win between two of your favorite dinosaurs?

On Saturday night, "Why Dinosaurs?" a documentary by Pinto Productions premiered to the Dino Shindig participants.

The film follows James Pinto and his filmmaker father, Tony Pinto, on a journey around the world interviewing paleontologists about the latest research. Two of this year's Dino Shindig speakers were featured in the "Why Dinosaurs?" film. They are Kallie Moore, the collections manager of the Paleontology Collection at the University of Montana and Dr. Jingmai O'Connor, Associate Curator of the Fossil Reptiles at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. The filmmaker, Tony Pinto, answered questions after the showing.

Many of the speakers said learning the name and characteristics of dinosaurs and playing with toys that represent dinosaurs is a gateway activity for children to first begin to learn about science.

Dr. Sabre Moore described the four fossil field expedition sites that the 62 participants were exploring Sunday. "At one site they are finding the scelosaurus material and excavated a turtle. At the second site they are returning to uncover more of a Triceratops frill. Another group is at the third site to uncover the layers of leaf fossils and dinosaur bones. At the fourth site they are searching for marine fossils such as clams, ammonites, marine reptiles such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, and other specimens," said Moore.

Kindergarten teachers from Baker, Jennifer Dukart and Jill Shelhamer, attended the Sunday presentations and the Shindig's Science and Cultural History Gathering at Medicine Rocks State Park. Dukart said, "I really enjoyed listening to Shawn Backbone talk about the Apsaalooke culture. The Crow Native Americans have reverence for nature and everything tied to that. The Dino Shindig helped me find some activities for my class."

Both teachers joined in sifting microsite soil for fossils on Sunday at Medicine Rocks State Park. About 35 adults and children looked closely for the tiny Gar fish scales, and other mammal fossils. Brody Hovatter, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, spoke before the microsite sorting activity then helped the group identify what they were finding in the soil.

Hovatter has been collecting mammal fossils in Carter and Fallon counties as well as near Jordan, MT with the Burke Museum. He explained these areas have badlands with exposed layers from the PG and K geologic time levels. "We are trying to find fossils from several geologic time layers to fill in our knowledge of animals in each time level," said Hovatter.

More speakers presented and more activities occurred during the Dino Shindig. If you haven't attended a Dino Shindig, be sure to add the 13th Annual Dino Shindig on July 26th-27th, 2025 to your bucket list. Travel to Ekalaka and learn about the latest fossils discoveries worldwide. To read more about the event, check out Carter County Museum at http://www.cartercountymuseum.org.