Saturday, April 24, 2010

Dino discovery in Navajo Sandstone dunes

A rare find of an Early Jurassic dinosaur in Utah's red rock country is named "Seitaad ruessi (SAY-eet-AWD ROO-ess-EYE), which is derived from the Navajo word, Seit'aad, a sand-desert monster from the Navajo (DinĂ©) creation legend that swallowed its victims in sand dunes (the skeleton of Seitaad had been "swallowed" in a fossilized sand dune when it was discovered); and Ruess, after the artist, poet, naturalist and explorer Everett Ruess who mysteriously disappeared in the red rock country of southern Utah in 1934 at age 20," according to the announcement from the University of Utah.  [right, artists rendition. Credit Univ. of Utah and Canadian Museum of Nature]

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