Utahraptor State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

in Grand County,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, United States, about northwest of

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...

Description

The park is located east of

U.S. Route 191 U.S. Route 191 (US 191) is a spur of U.S. Route 91 that has two branches. The southern branch runs for from Douglas, Arizona on the Mexican border to the southern part of Yellowstone National Park. The northern branch runs for from the north ...

and west of

Arches National Park Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, a ...

, and covers . The park contains the Dalton Wells Quarry, which have yielded remains of dinosaurs that have advanced understanding of

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

, such as those of the giant

dromaeosaur Dromaeosauridae () is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek ('), meaning ...

dinosaur ''Utahraptor ostrommaysi''. Fossils found in the park include those from the early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

at least 135 to 110 million years ago, such as dinosaurs, such bird-like ''

Nedcolbertia ''Nedcolbertia'' is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. Discovery and naming Three skeletons of a theropod were discovered in 1993 by Christopher Whittle near Cisco in the basal Yellow Cat Member of ...

'', armoured '' Gastonia'', and long-necked ''

Moabosaurus ''Moabosaurus'' (meaning "Moab reptile") is a genus of turiasaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, United States. Description ''Moabosaurus'' is characterized by a suite of features including: ext ...

''.

History

Dalton Wells is also the site of a historic

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

camp that was later used as the Moab Isolation Center, an internment camp for Japanese Americans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1975, palaeontologist Jim Jensen from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

dug at the site. In 1993,

Jim Kirkland James William Kirkland (born 30 October 1946) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and ...

, Robert Gaston, and Donald Burge used fossils from Dalton Wells and elsewhere to describe a new giant raptor, naming it

Utahraptor ''Utahraptor'' (meaning "Utah's thief") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It was a heavy-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It contains a single species, ''Utahrap ...

. In 2001, a large block was excavated, containing several specimens of ''

'', representing a large group surrounding an ornithopod dinosaur. In 2013, further research of it began, currently ongoing, overseen by Kirkland. On March 11, 2021 state legislators passed a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

to create Utahraptor State Park. The law that established the park was sponsored by state representative Steve Eliason. The legislation which created the park also included the establishment of the Lost Creek State Park in Morgan County.

References

External links

*
H.B. 257 Utah State Park Amendments (law establishing the park, 2021)

Noehill: Dalton Wells Civilian Conservation Corps Camp and Moab Relocation Center
State parks of Utah Protected areas of Grand County, Utah Protected areas established in 2021 Provincial and state parks in the Rocky Mountains {{Utah-protected-area-stub

Description

History

See also

References

External links