Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum secures rare fossils

The Big Horn Basin Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum [BHBDGM] announced the acquisition of two new specimens on Friday, Aug. 23, during the museum’s annual paleontology barbecue. Dr. Erik Kvale shared with guests that the museum has obtained a clutch of 24 extremely rare Allosaurus eggs.
In addition, Kvale announced that the museum has also secured a full skeletal cast of a juvenile Allosaurus skeleton nicknamed “Al Junior” from the Black Hills Institute.
The casts, which are among the most complete in the world, will be displayed as part of the museum in downtown Greybull, which is currently in its planning phases.
These latest acquisitions follow the announcement that the museum ordered a cast of the adult Allosaurus “Big Al 2,” also from the Black Hills Institute, earlier in 2024. “Big Al 2,” the world’s most complete adult Allosaurus, was found in the Howe-Stephens Dinosaur Quarry, north of Shell in 1996. When all three specimens are combined, the museum will create a unique display — the first complete rendering of an Allosaurus family, through each phase of life.
“We’ve got the only complete family in the world,” said Kvale, who sits on the board as president. “We will be in tour books, tour buses will stop off [in Greybull]. To see the development from
egg to grown, in just six years, “Big Al 2” is quite extraordinary.”
Although an allosaur nest was discovered east of Greybull in the early 2000s, the egg casts are based on a single, unlaid
egg found in the body cavity of an Allosaurus skeleton excavated in Utah. The Greybull nest, when excavated, was found to only contain crushed eggs, and remains in the Smithsonian’s custody. Kvale shared that the BHBDGM board is working alongside Dr. Nathan Jud, a paleobotanist at William Jewell College, and paleontologists at the Smithosonian to understand the composition of the Greybull nest material and accurately reconstruct
the original for its forthcoming exhibit.
The board shared that more announcements are on the horizon as well. They hope to have donations in place as early as the end of 2024 to acquire a full skeletal casts of the world’s most complete Stegosaurus, “Sarah,” and baby sauropod, “Little Toni.”
To learn more or make a donation to the museum, visit bighornbasindinos.org.