West of the small town of Choteau, Montana, near the Rocky Mountain Front, is a very special site known for its dinosaurs called the Beatrice Taylor Dinosaur Research Station, owned by the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. Over the past 30 years this research area has produced the first dinosaur egg clutches known from the Western Hemisphere, the first dinosaur embryos found in the world, the first dinosaur nests containing babies and showing for the first time that dinosaurs cared for their young, evidence of the largest group of dinosaur skeletons on earth (evidence of more than 15,000 skeletons), nesting grounds for the duck-billed dinosaur Maiasaura and the little meat-eating dinosaur Troodon, and remains of one of the largest flying reptiles. The popular name for this research area is "Egg Mountain," and the camp site is called Camp Makela after the late Bob Makela, who worked with Jack Horner in this area for many years.

Each summer students and staff from the Museum of the Rockies and Montana State University come to the research station to excavate eggs and skeletons and to learn about dinosaur growth, behavior, evolution and ecology. The area is one of the most productive dinosaur sites on earth.

John "Jack" R. Horner is the Curator of Paleontology, Museum of the Rockies and Regents Professor, Montana State University. Dr. Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs, and the first dinosaur embryos. He served as the technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films, and was partial inspiration for one of the lead characters, Dr. Alan Grant. For more information, see Museum Of The Rockies.

Camp Makela at the Beatrice Taylor Dinosaur Research Field Station (Museum of the Rockies), West of Choteau, Montana

Photo: Z