Joanna Orban
Staff Writer
When L.J. Krumenacker was in middle school, he knew he wanted to work with dinosaurs. It was around that time that he had started collecting fossils and bringing them to the Idaho Museum of Natural History, thanks to the encouragement of his then mentor.
Krumenacker, a doctorate in earth sciences was with a class of future paleontologists from Montana State University when he spotted bone fragments. Intrigued by the fragments, he decided to come back at a later date and investigate.
At first, he excavated the skeleton of an Oryctodromeus dinosaur. However, more exciting than the discovery of that skeleton was the discovery of the burrow behind it, the first one ever discovered in Idaho.
Burrows aren’t unique to dinosaurs. Gophers and other similar animals also dig them. They’re a safe place where animals can live and raise their young. What makes this particular discovery so unique is the fact that it’s one of only three in the world.
The other two are located in Wyoming and Australia. The burrow in Wyoming had the skeletons of an adult and two young dinosaurs inside.
When asked why burrows are so rare Krumenacker said, “They’re not really rare, it’s rare to be able to recognize them.”
In his doctoral dissertation, Krumenacker hypothesized that most burrowing dinosaur skeletons were found in or around burrows that had collapsed, or had lost their shape over the years.
Prior to the discovery of the burrow, Krumenacker had discovered roughly six skeletons of Oryctodromeus dinosaurs. The skeletons were located roughly in the same area as the burrow.
Oryctodromeus lived around 98 million years ago and was close to 3 feet tall with a width of about 11 feet, 7 feet of which was due to their exceptionally long tails.
The Oryctodromeus is one of the most common dinosaurs in Idaho, with dozens being found around the state.
The burrow was discovered in 2015 close to Soda Springs on land owned by the Forest Service. Over the last four years, Krumenacker had been working on his doctoral paper. It was published in September of this year, detailing his discovery of the burrow.
It took a while for Krumenacker to compile the data and get his paper ready for peer review, which is why this discovery is just now being celebrated. Despite the long wait, Krumenacker’s discovery is being acknowledged for how important it is.
Leif Tapanila, a doctorate in geology and the director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History is grateful for the contribution of the burrow to the museum.
Tapanila stated, “It’s exciting to show the world the unique dinosaurs that once lived in Idaho. LJ’s research helps the museum tell our story and build our collection for future Idahoans.”
Krumenacker’s discovery is an important one, as it gives a good picture of what life was like in Idaho nearly a hundred million years ago. Despite the magnitude of his discovery, Krumenacker doesn’t believe that the dinosaur discoveries are over in Idaho.
“ I expect there is a lot of Idaho dinosaur discoveries left to find,” Krumenacker said.
