Had eyes been in the sockets of that skull, they would have bulged at the dizzying heights to which the New Mexico National Guard Black Hawk choppers lifted it on the way to its new resting place.
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New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science geoscience collections specialist Amanda Cantrell with the remains of a juvenile Pentaceratops, a dinosaur with five horns decorating its head that is thought to have lived about 70 million years ago. The dinosaur remains will be examined and displayed in a museum in Albuquerque.
In a rare scene that has not been witnessed before, the remains of a plant eating dinosaur, baby Pentaceratops, complete with large horns and skeletal remnants has been discovered. They knew that they had to find a way to unearth the fossils and get them into their museum. Since the crews had to work in unfavorable conditions of the wild forest, the traditional methods of excavation and removal of fossils could not be used. The discovery was exciting, but to study the fossils closely, it was necessary to excavate them carefully and bring them to the museum. Lucas said that the team had to pack in countless water jugs, hundreds of pounds of plaster, and a battery of heavy tools for the operation.
Even with the upgraded engines, the military helicopters strained to heave the over 2-ton skull, the National Guard said.
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According to Lucas, no more than 10 skulls of adult Pentaceratops have been unearthed over the past century.
