Alamosaurus Quarry

Alamosaurus Quarry in Big Bend National Park

Several years ago The Dallas Museum of Natural History* partnered with Big Bend National Park and the University of Texas-Dallas in excavating a large concentration of Alamosaurus bones in Big Bend National Park. The rocks containing these bones were approximately 65 million years old, making Alamosaurus one of the last dinosaurs in the world.

Alamosaurus, a long-necked, long-tailed giant, is a member of a group of dinosaurs called the sauropods, the largest animals ever to walk the earth. Sauropods were a highly successful group of animals but by 65 million years ago, only one sauropod remained in North America, Alamosaurus. Adults of this animal were probably 60 feet long and weighed on the order of 35 tons.

The site produced the remains of at least three half-grown individuals, suggesting that at least while they were juveniles, Alamosaurus lived in small herds.