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University of Wyoming

'BIG AL' HELPS LINK PREHISTORIC PAST AND PRESENT

(NOTE: This is the third in a series of articles about "Big Al," an Allosaurus that roamed Wyoming 145 million years ago. The first display skeletal cast of "Big Al" is on exhibit at the University of Wyoming Geological Museum.)

Jan. 29, 1996 -- Standing 10-feet high with knife-like teeth and razor-sharp talons on its feet and hands, "Big Al," presents an awe-inspiring form to University of Wyoming Geological Museum visitors. The display at UW is the first public view of "Big Al," the most complete Allosaurus fossil ever found.

'BIG AL' and Brent BreithauptThe fossil of the predator dinosaur that roamed Wyoming 145 million years ago was found in 1991 on Bureau of Land Management acreage near Shell in northern Wyoming. A cast of this unique specimen was made at Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies.

"'Big Al' is part of the geologic history of Wyoming," says Brent Briethaupt, UW Geological Museum director. "The story of its life and the time in which it lived helps tell the story of Wyoming today."

Dinosaurs used to be considered as slow, dimwitted creatures that somehow managed to dominate the world for millions of years. Now scientists generally agree they were active beasts with many of the same qualities and instincts observed in modern animals. Scientists are developing new theories about dinosaur behavior by learning more about modern mammals, birds and reptiles, Breithaupt says.

"By speculating about the life and times of Big Al and other dinosaurs, we introduce many biological and environmental issues under discussion today," he says. "We can use obeservations of contemporary predators, like lions and tigers, to talk about how an Allosaurus may have hunted its prey. By looking at today's wildlife living in dry plains or tropical forests, we can speculate about how dinosaurs lived in similar conditions."

Discussing how dinosaurs lived and died raises many of the same questions about life on Earth today.

"Many of the questions we ask about how the environment affected dinosaurs, including their extinction, are questions being deliberated today about mankind's effects on the world's habitats," Breithaupt says.

Museums such the UW Geological Museum can be the foremost educational centers to present such topics in informative and entertaining ways, he adds.

"The Allosaurus is displayed in a lifelike pose," Breithaupt says, "not only to impress people, but to help teach them about dinosaurs. It's not as big as a Tyrannosaurus rex, but you wouldn't want to have met one."

The Allosaurus display stands tail-to-tail with its contemporary, the giant plant eating Apatosaurus, also known as the Brontosaurus. The 75-foot long Apatosaurus was found 70 miles north of Laramie in 1901. While a fully-grown adult Allosaurus would be larger than "Big Al," it still would be dwarfed by the Apatosaurus.

"The UW Geological Museum is the only place where the two dinosaurs are mounted side by side," Breithaupt says. "Comparing the two dinosaurs demonstrataes that being a predator in the Jurassic wasn't easy, even with all those teeth and claws."

The Allosaurus is the latest addition to hundreds of plant and animal fossils and mineral specimens on exhibit at the UW Geological Museum.

Wyoming is rich in prehistoric animal fossils because of the uplifting of the Rocky Mountains millions of years ago, which exposed Mesozoic and Cenozoic Era rock formations where dinosaur and early mammal fossils are easily discovered.

"People's fascination with dinosaurs helps them learn about geological and biological concepts, such as evolution and extinction," Breithaupt says. "Evolution is change through time."

Wyoming's geological changes since the beginning of the dinosaur era are dramatic -- seas came and went several times, rain forests appeared and disappeared, ice ages and arid environments emerged and the land was uplifted from sea level to 13,000-foot mountains.

"A trip to the UW Geological Museum helps people learn about Wyoming's geological past," Breithaupt says. "They learn that rhinos, mammoths, camels and horses also once roamed the land. Some of the plant and animal species that once live here adapted to changes, others are extinct.

The museum is open 8-5 p.m. weekdays, except holidays, and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends. For more information, call (307) 766-2646.

THE STORY OF "'BIG AL' 

On Display at the UW Geological Museum

BBC Dinosaur page featuring Big Al