Feathered, Meat-eating Dino Found in Ekalaka

A North American Oviraptorosaur, the second substantial specimen of its kind, was discovered by Burpee Museum of Natural History paleontology crews on BLM-administered federal land near Ekalaka, Mont.

Ekalaka is northwest of Belle Fourche in Carter County, Mont., across the state line from Butte County.

It's also an area where many major dinosaur fossils have been discovered through the years.

According to a news release from the Bureau of Land Management office in Miles City, Burpee Museum Board Member Steve Simpson, who also is a Highland Community College professor, and one of his students are credited with the find.

Both were working an exposed section of the Hell Creek Formation in Carter County when they found claw and toe bones weathering out of a hillside belonging to a mid-sized "theropod"- a meat-eating dinosaur.

Further excavation uncovered more toe and foot bones. Within minutes, several other bones were discovered including vertebrae and ribs. The bones were not connected, but were found near each other.

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