Dinosaur Tracksites in Shell, Wyoming

Located just west of Shell, Wyoming, along the Red Gulch/Alkali Scenic Backroad Byway, is one of the largest collections of dinosaur tracks in North America. These rare tracks are situated over hundreds of acres of public, private, and state land, and are known as:

Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite (public land)

Flitner Ranch Dinosaur Tracksite (private land)

Yellow Brick Road Dinosaur Tracksite (state land)

These tracksites were discovered by members of our GeoScience Adventures Team.

The discovery of these tracks is significant because:

· They occur in the lower part of the Middle Jurassic Sundance Formation, and are approximately 167 million years old. The Sundance unit was once thought to have been totally marine in character.

· Virtually nothing is known about North American dinosaurs from this period.

· Many of the dinosaur tracks appear very bird-like. These tracksites represent a period of time during which bird-like dinosaurs were beginning to evolve and little is known about bird's primitive ancestors.

Our GeoScience Adventures Team also discovered and studied additional dinosaur tracksite localities in the area. Known as the Gypsum Spring Dinosaur Tracksite, these tracks are in the Gypsum Spring Formation and are even older than the above noted tracksites.

Comments from Unbiased Observers:

parker_and_friends-s Our thanks to Port Aransas Beach Bums for an excellent review of the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite by respected scientists. Members of the Beach Bums visited Shell during the summer of 2000, camping at the Shell Campground while visiting with GeoScience Adventures staff members and scientists.

Last Modified: 2-10-2009

(except for images and text as noted)

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