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Museum of the Rockies

@museumoftherockies.bsky.social

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MOR delights visitors with changing, regional & natural history exhibits, planetarium shows, educational programs, lectures, benefit events, & museum store. https://museumoftherockies.org

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 5d

"Becoming Jane: The Evolution of Dr. Jane Goodall" opens today at MOR. Just 36 hours before her passing, she recorded a message for our members. Join us in honoring her extraordinary life. Our thanks to the Jane Goodall Institute and National Geographic.
Click here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFuM...

Dr. Jane Goodall's Message to MOR Members

YouTube video by Museum of the Rockies

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 5d

Dr. Jane Goodall's Message to MOR Members

YouTube video by Museum of the Rockies

www.youtube.com

Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 7) We are grateful to everyone who made this pilot program possible and look forward to continuing it in the future. The Browning High School Egg Mountain Eggspedition proved the power of bringing science and culture together in the Montana landscape.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 6) The weekend blended cultural education, scientific discovery, and outdoor adventure, deepening students’ understanding of the region’s rich paleontological and cultural heritage. It was a weekend of growth, inspiration, and community connection.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 5) Students also learned paleontological field methods directly from Museum of the Rockies paleontologists, including how to locate, identify, and excavate dinosaur fossils such as Montana’s state fossil, Maiasaura peeblesorum.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 4) Highlights included Indigenous storytelling under the stars with Smokey and Darnell Ridesatthedoor, Blackfeet cultural perspectives on fossils with Patty and Dale Fenner, and an Indigenous cooking demonstration with Mariah Gladstone of Indigikitchen.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 3) Students explored the cultural, historical, and scientific significance of fossils through unique learning activities. They connected with traditions, gained new perspectives, and built skills that blended Indigenous knowledge, paleontology, and outdoor exploration.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 2) With support from sponsors Ken and Karen Kress, The Turner Foundation, and the National Recreation Foundation, 15 Browning High School students experienced a weekend unlike any other. The program offered them the chance to learn in the field through hands-on opportunities.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 11d

(Part 1) This past weekend, Museum of the Rockies staff led the first ever Browning High School Egg Mountain Eggspedition program at the Beatrice R. Taylor Paleontology Research Area near Choteau, Montana. With excitement and curiosity, students began an unforgettable journey.

A collage of photos showing Browning High School students participating in a paleontology field program at Egg Mountain. The students and staff are outdoors in a rocky, hilly landscape, digging and examining fossils with tools and buckets, listening to instruction, and posing for group photos.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 12d

Happy #FossilFriday! Meet #Thikarisuchus xenodentes (#MOR11969)! The skull of this small #Cretaceous #crocodyliform fits in the palm of your hand. Thikarisuchus was named this week in a Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology paper by #MontanaStateUniversity alumnus Harrison Allen and colleagues.

Split image showing an artistic reconstruction of an ancient crocodile-like reptile with green eyes and textured scales on the left, and a photo of a small fossil skull fragment resting in a person’s hand on the right.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 19d

Happy #FossilFriday! Dive into the Cretaceous depths with Plioplatecarpus peckensis (MOR 1082)! This small (~3m long) mosasaur pursued prey in the Western Interior Seaway while dinosaurs roamed the land.

Fossil skeleton of a large prehistoric marine reptile displayed against a blue background, viewed from the front with its ribcage and open jaws prominently visible.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 26d

Happy #FossilFriday! Hundreds of fossils of the horned #dinosaur #Triceratops have been discovered in the #Cretaceous #HellCreekFormation in #Montana. In juveniles like #MOR1199, the #horns above the eyes curve backwards. As Triceratops grew up, the horns curved forward.

Fossilized skulls of Triceratops dinosaurs on display in a museum exhibit, showing their distinct horns and frilled crests.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Sep 5

Happy #FossilFriday! Life in the #Cretaceous could be dangerous for smaller #dinosaurs. This is #Orodromeus, whose name means “mountain runner.” Fossils of this small dinosaur were first discovered at Egg Mountain in the Two Medicine Formation of #Montana.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Sep 3

🎶 Something’s in the air at Museum of the Rockies! Three pterosaurs just landed in our Siebel Dinosaur Complex, spreading their wings high above the galleries.
Don’t forget to look up on your next visit! 🦖✨
#MuseumOfTheRockies #PterosaurGroove #DinoVibes

Collage of images showing two museum staff members installing a pterosaur skeleton. They work from a blue lift, examining and adjusting the fossil before it is suspended from the ceiling. The mounted pterosaur is displayed with wings outstretched, appearing to soar in the exhibit space.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Aug 29

Happy #FossilFriday! #Sturgeons evolved in the #Cretaceous. This remarkably preserved Priscosturion(#MOR1184) is a fossil sturgeon discovered in the body cavity of a Brachylophosaurus. See #Priscosturion, #Brachylophosaurus, and more in the #CretaceousCrossroads exhibit at MOR.

A fossilized sturgeon displayed in a glass museum case. The specimen shows preserved skeletal and body structures with elongated, textured sections, mounted on a black stand.

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Reposted by Museum of the Rockies

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · Aug 29

#FossilFriday The little Cretaceous thescelosaurid Orodromeus at the @museumoftherockies.bsky.social

Skeleton of the little thescelosaurid dinosaur Orodromeus

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Aug 22

Happy #FossilFriday! Ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) came in a variety of shapes and sizes. This is Cerasinops hodgskissi (MOR 300), a bipedal ceratopsian from the Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation of Montana.

Fossil skeleton of a horned dinosaur displayed in a museum exhibit. The dinosaur stands on a rocky platform with a painted backdrop of a prehistoric forest and mountains.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Aug 8

Happy #FossilFriday! Pogonodon was a “false saber-tooth” from the extinct family Nimravidae. This ancient carnivore roamed the region that is now Montana in the Oligocene Epoch, about 20 million years before true cats evolved.

Fossilized skull of Pogonodon, an extinct “false saber-tooth” from the Nimravidae family, displayed on a metal stand in a museum exhibit. The skull shows elongated saber-like teeth and weathered bone texture, with other fossils visible in the background.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jul 25

Happy #FossilFriday! #Mosasaurs were a group of predatory marine reptiles that lived during the Late #Cretaceous period. They had long tails for moving through the water, and flippers for steering. The #CretaceousCrossroads exhibit at MOR has two skeletal mounts of mosasaurs.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jul 18

Happy #FossilFriday! Finding fossil tracks in the field can be a challenge without good lighting. MOR 1082, the fossil tracks of a Cretaceous horseshoe crab, stand out when the light is right.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jul 11

Happy #FossilFriday! This is Maiasaura peeblesorum, the state fossil of Montana. Studies of this duck-billed dinosaur provided the first evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their babies. Come see Maiasaura bones, eggs, babies and more in Cretaceous Crossroads!
Mural by artist Julius Csotonyi

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jul 5

Happy #FossilFriday! Daspletosaurus horneri, an earlier relative of T.rex, is one of many dinosaurs and other ancient creatures on display in the new Cretaceous Crossroads exhibit at MOR!

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jun 27

Happy #FossilFriday! While the Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation is known for its dinosaur fossils, other organisms including lizards, turtles, fish and crocodilians are also found in its ecosystem. Come learn more about the Two Medicine Formation at the Cretaceous Crossroads exhibit opening!

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jun 20

Happy #FossilFriday! This is the nearly complete foot of an Ornithomimosaur MOR 1105 from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Garfield County, Montana. The long legs of these ostrich-like theropod dinosaurs suggest they were adapted for speed.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jun 14

Happy #FossilFriday! Teleoceras (MOR 2034) is an early rhino from the Miocene (~8 mya). It had a barrel-like build with short legs, similar to a modern hippopotamus. It’s high-crowned molars suggest it primarily consumed low-lying plants.

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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · Jun 6

Happy #FossilFriday! This Tenontosaurus skull (MOR 682) was recently taken off exhibit for study by visiting researchers to MOR. Before going back on display, fossil preparators will thoroughly evaluate the condition of and conserve the specimen.

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