115 million-year-old fossils found in Maryland’s Dinosaur Park

This historic find was dino-mite.

Scientists have discovered a trove of rare dinosaur bones dating back 115 million years at Maryland’s aptly named Dinosaur Park, marking the first dinosaur “bone bed” found in the state since the 19th century.

The historic discovery was made by paleontologists and volunteers during a dig in April, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission [M-NCPPC], who owns the park in Laurel, announced on Wednesday.

The find includes the largest theropod fossil ever found in eastern North America, officials said. Additional fossils found nearby officially raised the park’s status to a “bonebed” — a term used by paleontologists when bones of one or more species are found concentrated within one geologic layer.

JP Hodnett, Prince George’s County Dinosaur Park Paleontologist and Program Coordinator, found the 3-foot shin bone of a therapod — a branch of carnivorous dinosaurs.

He hypothesized that the fossil is an Acrocanthosaurus — the largest theropod in the Early Cretaceous period believed to reach a daunting length of 38 feet.

Acrocanthosaurus teeth have been previously collected from Dinosaur Park, officials said.

“Finding a bonebed like this is a dream for many paleontologists as they can offer a wealth of information on the ancient environments that preserved the fossils and provide more details on the extinct animals that previously may have only been known from a handful of specimens,” Hodnett said in a statement.

It is the first dinosaur bone bed discovered in Maryland since 1887. Dinosaur Park is home to 115 million-year-old fossils that date back to the early Cretaceous Period — about 50 million years before the Tyrannosaurus Rex. 

Astrodon Johnstoni — the largest species of dinosaur found east of the Mississippi River — can also be found at the park, according to WUSA9.

“Dinosaur fossils are exceptionally rare in the eastern US, and among these only Maryland has produced dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Period,” said Matthew Carrano, a paleontologist with the Smithsonian.

“Typically, only one or two bones are found at a time, so this new discovery of a bonebed of fossils is extremely important. It is certainly the most significant collection of dinosaur bones discovered along the eastern seaboard in the last hundred years.”

At least a dozen other dino fossils have been found at the park since 2018, including the remains of a Tyrannosaur — an early T. rex relative — and the second-oldest stingray fossil ever found on Earth.

The fossils will be excavated, cleaned and cataloged in a local museum, officials said.