The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-02-21
Once Home
Of Dinosuur
Great Reptiles of the Mesozoc
Age Once Inhabited Big
Horn County.

ANN
Age Once Inhabited Big
Horn County.
In this article written especially
and exclusively for the Tribune
Herald, Raw E. Cotton, an exper-
fenced specialist in dinosaur life.
discusses some of the finds which
have been made in Big Horn
county of fossil remains and vivid
ly portrays the great dinosaurs
with special photographs as they
appeared in life. This article
should be OF vast interest to
scholars of science, insofar as it
pertains to the immediate vicinity
in which we now reside.
Over a period of years and up
to 1885, vertebrate psychologists
have been engaged in excavating
and studying fossil reptilian e
mains of the species of giant pre-
historic reptiles, known as dino
saur, which have been found a
certain points in Big Horn and
adjacent counties in Montana and
Wyoming. While the remains
found here have not been in as
complete state as those which
have been found and excavated in
the area of Montana south of
Glendive in Dawson county, yet
sufficient remains in fossil state
have been found here to properly
identify and place in their proner
category insofar as species are
concerned. One of the first re-
mains found here in Big Horn
county, a few years ago, was a
partial skeleton in a fossil state Of
what is known as Tyrannosaurus
Rex or giant flesh-eating dinosaur.
This great reptile was contem-
poraneous with the Cretaceous
period of the Mesozoic age and
lived here in Big Horn county ap-
proximately so million years ago.
Tyrannosaurus Rex, m e n n g
king of the tyrant lizards" was
bipedal in gait, using his giant
hind legs for purposes of loco
motion, while his huge tail acted
as a stabilizer for his estimated
weight of fifteen tons. He was
approximately forty-seven feet in
length and, when standing erect,
was fully twenty feet in height.
His head was armored and he
could open his great mouth to a
width of four feet, revealing rows
of teeth, six inches in length.
Several of these teeth have been
found in the area adjacent to
Wyola and down near the Wyom-
ing-Montana state line, just north
of Parkman, Wyo. Tyrannosaurus
Rex was of the flesh-eating spe-
cies of dinosaur and was no doubt
the greatest flesh-eating reptile
ever created in the history of the
world. Several complete skele-
tons of this great reptile have
been found this year in New Mex
leo and Colorado. They existed
here during the sub-tropical CHI
matte condition.
Triceratops
Another strange species of din
osaur, yet of the herbivorous or
plant-eating type, whose remains
have been found in eastern Mon
tana, especially in the Glendive
Triceratops, meaning three horns
on the face" This species of
dinosaur was no doubt the fore
runner of the present day African
rhinoceros. In fact Triceratops
possessed many characteristics Of
the present day African animal.
Three large horns were mounted
on his face. while an armored
shield or frill of bone extended
back across his thick neck, pro-
tectlng the delicate spinal column.
This 1rlll and the horns are be
lieved to have been his only
means of defense in case OF an at
tack by one Of the giant tIesn-
eaters. Triceratop horns and
parts of the frill are quite COM
mon finds in this area. Many OF
these partial finds have been
found in the area near the Big
Horn mountains.
DinOSaur means terrible liz
ard" The line started at some
point during the Triassic period of
the earth's age, approximately 200
million years ago, and they be-
came totally extinct with the close
of the Cretaceous period of the
MeSoZoic age, which is estimated
by biologists at so million years
ago. Over 5000 distinct species OF
dinoSaur have been found IN
Montana and elsewhere. Some of
the species were no larger than
a hog, while others ranged up. to
the huge plant-eating Bronta-
saurus, which had an estimated
length of 80 feet when alive.
Some of the dinosaurs were
smooth skinned, while others were
armored and covered with spikes.
Some had hundreds of teeth, while
others were toothless. Some were
herbivorous while others were of
the flesh-eating type. Yet, in
view of the fact that all of them
had certain anatomical charac-
teristics in common, science has
seen fit to place them under one
| general category. namely: dino
i, saurs.
Dinosaurs disappeared with the
change in land masses which were
explained In another article on
the geology of Big Horn county.