New Mexico National Guard helicopters assisted in transporting dinosaur bones — including a 4,500-pound skull — from a remote wilderness site to a museum.
The only known full skeleton of a baby Pentaceratops and the skull of an adult Pentaceratops were found four years ago on federal land by scientists with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. On Thursday the bones were transported to the museum for further study and eventual display.
Since the ancient bones were discovered in an area closed to mechanized vehicles, the New Mexico National Guard deployed Blackhawk helicopters to lift the fossils to sites where they were then transported by National Guard flatbed trucks to the museum located, in Albuquerque.
The operation was tracked on the museum’s Facebook page.
“Lift part one accomplished!” showed a picture of the helicopter lifting the carefully wrapped remains. The next posting “Touchdown!” showed the fossil safely on the ground. “Load ’em up!” captured the remains being placed onto a flatbed truck. And finally, “The Pentaceratops have made it home.”
National Guard aviator Captain Kevin Doo told CNN that the operation “was definitely one of the highlights of my career.” Doo estimated the one dinosaur’s skull weighed 4,500 pounds and said that even with the upgraded engines, the military helicopters were put to the test.
The Pentaceratops, a horned-face dinosaur, lived during the Cretaceous period about 75 million years ago, according to the museum’s website.
The fossils will be on display beginning November 5th.