A public relations coordinator for a Texas museum who did something a paleontologist wouldn't do recently discovered the fossilized bones of a 75-million-year-old duckbilled dinosaur.
Steven Cowan, 22, found the bones while taking a tour of the area where a mummified duckbill was found eight years ago. The mummified brachylophosaurus, nicknamed Leonardo, is on loan to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
"It was exciting," said Cowan. "About 10 feet away, we found another bone jutting out of the rock. Based on the position, the head may have fallen off and rolled down the hill, but we're hoping that the legs and torso are still in the stone."
Bob Bakker, paleo curator at the Houston Museum, said he likely wouldn't have found the specimen that Cowan nicknamed Marco.
"One of the things we always need to watch out for is thinking that we know it all," Bakker said. "I knew enough never to go to a ridge top because you don't find specimens there. But I forgot to tell that to Steven, so he did exactly that and proved me wrong."
(Xinhua/Agencies June 4, 2008)
