How Do You Pronounce…

As you may have heard today on Southern U-Talk with Dale Desmond, there's some disagreement about how to pronounce "diplodocus" correctly. That's because archaeologists think they found one in Eastern Utah. In a remarkable turn of events this past fall, construction crews working on a parking lot at Dinosaur National Monument uncovered a significant trove of dinosaur fossils — the first at that particular site in more than a century. What started as routine asphalt removal near the Quarry Exhibit Hall quickly turned into an exciting paleontological dig when sandstone filled with bones was exposed on September 16, 2025.

LONG-NECKED HERBIVORE

Paleontologists and staff from the National Park Service, along with volunteers and the Utah Conservation Corps, halted construction and began excavating the material. Over several weeks, they carefully removed an astonishing 3,000 pounds of fossil-bearing rock. Experts believe the remains belong to a Diplodocus, a giant long-necked herbivore that roamed this region during the Late Jurassic roughly 150 million years ago. Diplodocus is already well known from historic bonebeds at the monument — the area was first extensively excavated by early 20th-century scientists, including Earl Douglass, whose work helped put Dinosaur National Monument on the paleontology map.

CLEAN DINO BONES

Today, the newly discovered material is being cleaned and studied at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal. Visitors to the museum can often watch fossil preparation up close in the lab, offering a unique glimpse into how scientists bring ancient bones back to life.

IS IT dip-LOHD-uh-kiss or DIP-luh-DOE-kiss?

No matter how you say it...this unexpected discovery underscores just how much prehistoric history still lies beneath the surface of the American West — sometimes literally under our feet.