St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site

Hey guys,

Over Summer 2014 i went to so many geological sites, and today i thought id talk about this amazing little site which is home to hundreds of dinosaur tracks from the early Jurassic period.

So on our way to Yellowstone, we stayed a night in Salt Lake City, and stopped into a travel guide area thing, where we found this brochuere telling us about this dinosaur site at Johnson Farm on the way. So we decided to visit it, and it was definatly worth it. It is quite a small little site, but has fossils and tracks from dinosaurs, marine animals, and prehistoric plants.

How Was it Discovered?

A retired Optometrist named Shelson Johnson owned an area of farmland and one day decided to lower the ground around his home so it would be at road level. Over the course of construction, layer upon layer of sedimentary rock was removed until they came across a layer of sandstone which when removed acidentally tipped over. Revealing many natural casts of dinosaur footprints, tail marks, and other sign of prehistoric life. Astounded, Sheldon contacted professional paleontologists and geologists to have a look. From then on he devoted his time into making the site the museum that it is today.

So How Did They Get There?

When they dinosaurs roamed Earth, the continents were arranged in the supercontinent, Pangea. At this time the area where St. George's is now would have been close to the equator, meaning the climate would have been alot wetter. Lake Dixie was a large lake that St. George was located on the shore. This meant that the conditions of the land would have been muddy, making animal tracks last long. Over time, the lake dried up and formed the layer of sandstone which is seen today.

Dinosaur Handprints!

One of the amazing features St. George has is the set of hand, feet, pelvis, and ankle prints belonging to a Dilophosaurus. This is an extremely rare find and only 5 others have been found worldwide. They appeared due to the dinosaur squatting, leaving its claw marks in the sand. From this information, paleontologist were able to find the weight, height, and length of this dinosaur.