THE REDESCRIPTION AND EXCAVATION OF WILBUR KNIGHT'S 1895 MEGALNEUSAURUS REX SITE

Examination of the collection site of the large Jurassic pliosaur Megalneusaurus rex has revealed new fossil material as well as both tools and artifacts from the 1895 excavation. The rediscovery of Wilbur Knight’s original site was made possible by the use of his letters describing the two articulated hind-paddles and his geological description of the area. This information has been used to verify that Megalneusaurus rex was collected from the upper Redwater Shale Member of the Sundance Formation and that the original excavation was incomplete. Newly collected fossil material has included another articulated flipper, portions of vertebrae and large amounts of gut contents.

Scattered piles of bone and spoil mounds indicating past disturbance has allowed for some speculation as to the outline and parameters of the original excavation. A broken knife blade and a button were recovered from the site. A nail was recovered above the uncollected flipper bones suggesting the site was marked for potential return to the excavation in 1895. Remains of a metal ‘Hercules Blasting Powder’ canister and an intact whiskey bottle were also collected from near the site. It is hoped that a more extensive investigation of the intact spoil piles will reveal more artifacts and information. The rediscovery of the site is significant in that little is known about this largest member of the Sundance marine reptile fauna.