Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

Today we took a day trip to the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Elmo and Cleveland, Utah.  The quarry has a great visitor's center and the active dig is enclosed in two buildings.  One building is closed but the other building is open to the public.  This evening I am posting drawings I have done of some of the dinosaurs that have been found in the Cleveland Lloyd Quarry.  I will also draw more of the dinosaurs from the quarry for another post.  I will first post these older drawings.  I will also post some photos of the site and of the nice visitor's center. .  . and some other photos of the fossilized skeletons from other museums.  Today we also went to the Utah State University Prehistoric Museum as well.  It was much larger than the visitor's center at the quarry.  

Something funny that happened today is that we THOUGHT that we had visited this quarry 20 years ago.   There was only an open air roof over it and a catwalk over the center of the dig.  But now, after seeing the real site, we realize that we had got lost and that 20 years ago we were actually at a different quarry. 

The most common animal found at the quarry was Allosaurus.  Allosaurus was between 30 and 40 feet  or 9-12 meters long and was a top predator of the Jurassic Period.  It was very successful.  Between 44 and 60 Allosaurs died at this site.  The bones are all jumbled up and not together or disarticulated so an exact count is kind of difficult.  This many predators in one place is remarkable.  In fact, there were far more predator dinos and crocodiles than there were herbivorous (plant eating) animals.  So this site is considered a predator trap. 

Here is one theory of what happened here. . .  The carnivores saw the trapped animal in the mud and thought, "FREE FOOD!"  But then the predator got trapped in the mud too.  This is jokingly called, thinking with your stomach.   Although predatory dinos had bigger brains than herbivores, they also did not have enough intelligence to avoid the trap.  Although since most of the Allosaurs are juviniles or subadults. . . maybe most of the older Allosaurs were wise enough to avoid the trap. 

So. . . here are some older drawings of the species of dinosaurs from the Cleveland Lloyd Quarry.
Remember that you can search the list of dinosaurs of the Jurassic Period by clicking on the top button that says Paleontology.  The picture will match the caption on today's post.   I am starting with some of the Predators. 

Allosaurus by a River

Maybe Allosaurus was striped. . . 

Allosaurus Caring for her Chick

Crocodiles and Alligators carry their chicks in their mouths so maybe Theropods did too.  

Allosaurus mommy 

Allosaurus from Quarry Visitor's Center

The following photos are of Allosaurus' weapons. . . 

Allosaurus Hand and Claws

Allosaurus Jaw and Teeth

Ceratosaurus was more primitive than Allosaurus.  In fact, some Paleontologists think that it was outcompeted by Allosaurus and went extinct long before the Allosaurs did.  

Ceratosaurus by a River

Ceratosaurus 

Torvosaurus was a larger type of Allosaur.   .   . but it was not Allosaurus.  Torvosaurus had a much bigger head and recent finds in other quarries in both North America and Europe have indicated that although we have considered Allosaurus as the top predator. . . with its huge head and probably more powerful bite perhaps Torvosaurus was the real king of the Jurassic.  However...since far more Allosaurus fossils have been found it is thought that somehow Allosaurus was more successful.  

The below photo is of a Torvosaurus fossilized skeleton on display at the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, Utah.  ONE Torvosaurus was found at the Cleveland Lloyd Quarry.  

Torvosaurus at Museum of Ancient Life

Torvosaurus and Ramphorhynchus

Torvosaurus as Feathered Theropod

Some Paleontologists think that it is possible that ALL Theropods were feathered.  

By the,way, this drawing is good for seeing the rather flatter skull of Torvosaurus.   

Torvosaurus on the Prowl

We now will see drawings of the Sauropods.  Sauropods were the largest land animals ever to walk the Earth.  They were once thought to have only lived in the Jurassic Period.  Now we know that they evolved and lived on into the Cretaceous Period.  In fact, they grew to be even bigger in the Cretaceous.  

Brachiosaurus

 Torvosaurus vs Allosaurus

Notice the smaller head on Allosaurus. . . although the dinos may have been the same length Torvosaurus was more robust.  That means more heavily built.  

Brachiosaurus feeding on Cycad Tree

Brachiosaurus was the biggest dinosaur found at the quarry.  It was thought to be around 85 feet or 26 meters long.  ONE type of Brachiosaur, called Sauroposeidon, was 60 feet tall.  Brachiosarus weighed around 38 tons.  

Brachiosarus for small children to color

We now know that these Saruopods were LAND animals.  It was once thought that they lived in lakes and rivers and used their high nostrils as a snorkel.  This in now considered incorrect.  The great Paleontologist Robert Bakker was the one who pointed out that they had elephant like feet, not hippo type feet.  I will be drawing more of the Sauropods from the Quarry for a later post.  

Sauropod Feet from Utah State University East Prehistoric Museum

Sauropod Vertebrae from Quarry

NOTE:  I am posting this now but I will continue to post more drawings on this post.   All will be drawings of animals found at the C L Quarry.