Now THIS is what a typical dinosaur dig looks like in your imagination. Doesn’t it?

Indiana Jones style hat? Check. Khaki shorts? Check. Arid North American badlands? Double check.

Is it true that most dinosaur bones are found in places like Montana? How accurate is this Hollywood stereotype?

The truth is, North America is one of the best places for finding dinosaur bones, but it’s not the only place where you can find them.

In a recent Reddit AMA hosted by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, PastTime Podcast host and paleontologist Matt Borths gives us the short answer on why North America is such a hotspot for fossil hunters:

During the time of T. rex (the Cretaceous period), an inland sea covered Kansas, Nebraska, and many midwestern states, Borths tells Upvoted.

“Where there are coastlines, there are rivers flowing to them carrying lots of sand and mud ready to bury bones and teeth. So all this stuff gets buried rather than just withering away into dust,” Borths says.

The fossils are buried deep under miles and miles of rock, which preserves the dinosaur, but makes it difficult for scientists to unearth them. So an event needs to happen to expose all those bones.

Fossils are uplifted when new faults and new mountains are formed.

“The western part of North America is a perfect storm of these factors for many portions of the Age of Dinosaurs. It’s also great for the beginning of the Age of Mammals, particularly in the Big Horn basin where the Big Horn Mountains rose up as early primates and horses were scrambling around the ancient jungle.”

Borths shares that fossil hunting works best in dry environments. That’s because it’s easy to spot a jaw lodged in desert dirt—when there are lots of trees and bushes, it’s hard to notice something like a fossil sticking up from under the ground.

“There are rocks along the east coast, such as around Washington D. C. that have dinosaurs, but it’s hard to get at them because the foliage is so thick (not to mention the paved over portions),” he says.

Which states are the best for finding fossils?

“Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana are great places for dinos. For mammals, you want to go to South Dakota, Oregon, California. If you want to know where the most fossils are, my money would be on the midwest,” Borths explains.

But why don’t we ever hear about fossil discoveries in the arid regions of Africa and Australia?

That’s because these places haven’t had any major mountain-building events in a long time.

“There are probably lots of dinosaurs in the rocks under Australians’ feet but they can’t get at them because no mountain-building event has lifted them up to expose them at the surface,” he says.

“We [have found some] African and Australian dinosaurs. They are just few and far between.”

However, there seems to be a lot of great discoveries coming out of China lately. After all, the country is home to the infamous feathered dinosaur fossils that were recently unearthed. It turns out, China is a prolific place to find dinosaur fossils.



Feathered dinosaur fossil found in China (Houston Museum of Natural Science/Wikimedia)

This is because China just joined the fossil-hunting game recently in the 20th century. It’s harder to find new species in the western United States and Europe because we’ve been hunting for animals since the 18th century. We’ve already discovered everything that’s easily found.

Borths predicts India and Argentina will be part of the next big fossil boom.

However, Borths’ favorite place for fossil hunting is neither Montana or China. He prefers… Ohio?

“I’m from the area and may be biased,” he says. “But seriously, you can’t pick up a rock and not find a fossil in Cincinnati.”