Volunteers race to recover rare Jurassic fossils at Saint George site before power substation work

Summary

A rare late Triassic–early Jurassic fossil quarry at the former Johnson Farm near Saint George is being excavated urgently after the city approved a power substation at the site. Volunteers, students and paleontologists are recovering bones, footprints and possible new species while the museum seeks storage, supplies and donations.

Saint George volunteers, paleontologists and museum staff are rushing to excavate and preserve fossils at the former Johnson Farm site on the city’s North Side after city plans for a new power substation put parts of the fossil quarry at risk.

The site, owned by Saint George City and adjacent to the Saint George Dinosaur Discovery Site museum, contains at least two bone beds and fossil material dated to the earliest Jurassic — roughly 200 million years old, according to speakers on site. Organizers say the upper bone bed has produced dinosaur remains and that volunteers have already recovered footprints, teeth, fish remains and vertebrae in just weeks of digging.

The excavation team says the substation project creates time pressure: city and utility planners selected the location because it meets both high-voltage…

Volunteers race to recover rare Jurassic fossils at Saint George site before power substation work

Summary

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