Crews make rare dinosaur find

HELENA, Mont. — Federal officials say Illinois paleontology crews working in southeastern Montana excavated the remains of a dinosaur rarely found in North America.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials say crews from Illinois’ Burpee Museum of Natural History found the bones of an oviraptorosaur on BLM land near Ekalaka in July.

The ostrichlike dinosaur was a meat-eater with a beak like a parrot. BLM officials said in a recent statement that most complete oviraptorosaur specimens have been found in Asia, and North American finds are exceptionally rare.

BLM officials say about 40 bones were collected in the Hell Creek Formation in Carter County, and the rest of the skeleton remains covered in the hillside.

Scott Williams of the Burpee museum says the dinosaur nicknamed “Pearl” is probably at least 5 or 6 feet tall.