Before the amazing computer graphic dinosaurs running across a field in the Jurassic Park movies. Before Barney the sing-along television dinosaur. Meet the Hadrosaurus of Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Wait. What? A gripping story. Read on.
This herbivore (plant eating) dinosaur lived and died between 78 and 80 million years ago during what we call the Cretaceous period. It was about 25 feet long and weighed between 2000 and 4000 pounds. It had those short little forelegs like a T-Rex. The dinosaur had a large beak made of keratin, the same material as our finger nails.
This Hadrosaurus lived in an area that had once been open ocean, but it walked on a dark green, fine clay material called marl. A thick bed of this clay runs along southwestern New Jersey. After death, the dinosaur gradually was buried in this fine clay. She was not chewed up or washed around so that most of the bones were in a small area. A long period passes. Wait, even longer. A little longer. OK, now.
A farmer from Haddonfield, New Jersey, John Estaugh Hopkins, found some very large rocks that looked like bones on his property in 1838. In 1858 a scientist, William Parker Foulke, was in the area and heard of the mysterious bones. He continued to dig on the farm property. He found quite a few more bones. Foulke then worked with Joseph Leidy of the nearby Philadelphia Academy of the Sciences to fit the bones back together to reconstruct what the animal looked like. At this time, many bits and pieces of the “terrible lizards” had been found, but none this complete. This was the first time that a skeleton was fitted together in the way that many today are on display in museums around the world.
All was quiet for over 100 years. Not a long wait this time.
A Boy Scout from Haddonfield, Christopher Brees, heard about the dinosaur and found the original location where the bones were found. The area had become a bit of a dumping site. He earned his Eagle Scout award in 1984 by cleaning up the area and having an informational plaque installed near a small bench for people to relax in the shade.
That started the ball rolling. Not much time passed for the next events.
In 1994 the site was named a National Landmark. In the same year the Hadrosaurus was named the state fossil of New Jersey. Today, this dinosaur even has its own website at hadrosaurus.com.
Reference information from Wikipedia.