Toyota Helps Paleontologists get to Dinosaurs in Wyoming

Dinosaurs in Wyoming

Wyoming is steeped in dinosaur history. Wyohistory.org states that the first Jurassic mammal (Dryolestes) was discovered in Wyoming back in the 1870’s. Since then, many other discoveries of Jurassic fossils have been found in Wyoming. A Diplodocus was found in 1899 near Medicine Bow, which, Scottish philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie had several replicas made of. These replicas were then sent to Museums in the U.K. and other parts of the World. This was a pivotal moment in history given this was the first time many people were able to see the mount of a dinosaur.

Other discoveries of dinosaurs in Wyoming include; Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Supersaurus vivianae, Tyrannosaurus rex, as well as tracks from the likes of Pterosaurs‘.

The children’s movie, “The Good Dinosaur” is set in Wyoming.

Photo: Toyota

Toyota Land Cruiser and Tundra’s perfect for Wyoming terrain.

During this summer, world-renowned Paleontologists Dr. Phil Manning and Dr. Victoria Egerton came to northern Wyoming to survey an ‘undisclosed’ site. Accompanied by a team from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, they made their journey across the rugged Wyoming terrain in a Land Cruiser and a couple of Tundra’s provided by Toyota U.S.A.

“It’s an off-road adventure through a rough and tumble world that existed millions of years ago, at a time when there was a salt water sea covering the area we’re presently exploring,” said Paleontologist Manning “What the sea left behind was rugged terrain and steep slopes that are extremely hard and sometimes dangerous to traverse. Some of the bones we are discovering weigh hundreds of pounds and are brittle and very fragile. So, it’s imperative we excavate and transport them safely in vehicles that can smoothly handle the rough landscape. We are very grateful Toyota is helping us preserve a very important slice of history.”

Funnily enough, the Toyota Land Cruiser is the original vehicle in the movie, “Jurassic Park“.

The Toyota Land Cruiser is part of the team

The discoveries won’t be staying in Wy.

The team says they have discovered several animals dating back to millions of years ago and are, “hot on the trail” of multiple dinosaurs in Wyoming. The bones will go back to the 500,000sq.ft. Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.