It's a setting however that makes for truly remarkable preservation and the entire Mission Jurassic consortium is especially excited about the potential of these particular fossil beds.

Already insects and plants are turning up in these paper-thin layers. Fish too. "It's amazing. You can see every small bone in life position; their scales and fins as well," enthuses Tim Ewin.

The scientists say the deposits remind them of the famous Solnhofen limestones from southern Germany which have yielded some of the most spectacular of all Late Jurassic fossils, including one of palaeontology's true "rock stars" - Archaeopteryx, the winged creature that essentially proved the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.

Could these Wyoming sediments hold something similar?

For the NHM and Naturalis, there is now great desire to join the Children's Museum in making a long-term commitment to this square mile of Badlands. The possibilities seem overwhelming.

The London institution is talking of opening its own dedicated quarry where students could be brought over for training, even museum donors to see where their money is going.

"It would be an important statement from us that we still do expeditions; we still do 'live' science," says Richard Herrington. "We want to say loudly that we're collecting new stuff, not just working on old material. We're modern and we're addressing the latest research questions."

Back up at one of the quarries, Phil Manning is turning a large crystal lump in his hands. When bone has been in the ground for a long time, its calcium is liberated into the surrounding sediments to form gypsum. Finding chunks of the mineral is a sign that more dinosaur remains are close.



But at this precise moment, the Manchester man is very excited because his team has just had a eureka moment. Looking at the melange of sauropod fossils in front of them, it’s clear now how the different pieces fit together to make a massive pelvis.

“Do you know, fear was what I felt when I first walked on to this site because I realised we were getting into something really huge. But it's something we just have to do because the material is so wonderful.

"Every single palaeontologist from every museum and every university who comes to work here will dream about this place at night.”

Author: Jonathan Amos

Online Producer: James Percy

Field Producer: Alison Francis

Graphics: Gerry Fletcher

3D animations: George Spencer, Mark Edwards, Terry Saunders

Videos: Julie Ritson, Dave Rust, Phil Manning, Ultimaker

Editor: Kathryn Westcott

Images: Jonathan Amos, Natural History Museum, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Alamy, Bob Nicholls / Paleocreations 2014

Publication date: 15 August 2019