Dinosaur bones discovered in Montana have recently been brought to NIU.

Geology graduate student Joseph Peterson discovered bones in Montana belonging to an Edmontosaurus with his students over this past summer.

The Edmontosaurus is a plant-eating, duck-billed dinosaur that is commonly found in the Badlands area, Peterson said.

The bones Peterson and his students found are estimated to be 67 million years old, he said.

“This time represents when the last of dinosaurs existed on Earth,” Peterson said.

While on the paleontological digs, Peterson and his students look at bases of hills that have been worn down by erosion over the years. There, they hope to find any possible bones that can be visible by the eye. If they find any bones, they begin to dig around that area in hopes of finding more bones that could lead to a discovery, Peterson said.

Reed Scherer, professor of geology and environmental geoscience and Peterson’s adviser, found the dig to be an exciting experience.

“I’ve been overseeing this research project and have learned many interesting things from the students involved in it,” Scherer said.

Peterson was among those who discovered Jane, the Tyrannosaurus rex found in the Hell Creek Formations in Montana. This area of Montana is where several Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops were discovered, dating back to the early 1900s.

“This experience got me interested to search for other possible dinosaur bones that could be in that area,” Peterson said. “So for the past two summers, I’ve taken students interested with me to search for more possible bones there.”

What Peterson and his students found there was a partial dinosaur skeleton that is now currently being prepared in Montgomery Hall.

“We’ve only found portions of the Edmontosaurus as of now, but we plan on heading back to Hell Creek next summer in hopes of finding more bones of its skeleton,” he said.

Peterson plans on keeping the remains at NIU for a while and then transferring them to the Burpee Museum of National History in Rockford.