A researcher from the University of Wyoming, Anton Wroblewski, has analyzed thousands of fossil fragments to better understand the final period of the dinosaur era. His study examined more than 6,500 pieces of fossilized remains gathered between 1991 and 1995 from 56 locations south of the Seminoe Reservoir in Carbon County. These specimens originated from the Ferris Formation located in the Hanna Basin of south-central Wyoming.

What Scientists Found

The collection consists of isolated bits and pieces from dinosaurs, snakes, turtles, sharks, and other species. Unlike regions such as the Lance or Hell Creek Formations that preserve complete skeletons or mummified remains, the ancient Hanna Basin environment was a boggy, swampy bay along the Western Interior Seaway. Consequently, animal remains were mostly broken apart rather than buried intact.

Despite the lack of complete skeletons—aside from one partially articulated ceratopsian—individual pieces provided significant information. Key findings include:

  • Distinctive features on teeth and bone fragments allow researchers to pinpoint specific dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus rex.
  • Non-dinosaur species like fish, turtles, and crocodilians appear both above and below the extinction boundary layer, showing they were less severely impacted.
  • The fossilized remains allow paleontologists to reconstruct a diverse prehistoric ecosystem.

Why It Matters

The Ferris Formation is the thickest rock section from the latest Cretaceous Period in the Rocky Mountains. Because it holds more accumulated sediment than similar sites in Montana or Colorado, it offers a remarkably complete record of the final million years leading up to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event around 66 million years ago.

During this catastrophe, about 75 percent of all Earth's species vanished. While evidence points toward a massive asteroid impact that created a 120-mile-wide crater beneath Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, scientists still debate whether dinosaurs died off rapidly from the strike or gradually due to environmental changes. Examining these detailed Wyoming layers helps researchers piece together the timeline and environmental changes that drove these creatures to extinction.

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Source: dinosaur fossil discovery - BingNews · Published October 11, 2026 · Photo by Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash