Dinosaur Stakeout
especially for the rest of the summer, but maybe after that we could work it in somehow, if you’re still keen.”
    Craig’s eyes shone with interest. Todd shrugged his shoulders, as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the ­other.
    “It would be cool to discover something!” Craig said. “Would it be named after us?”
    “Could be.” Pederson laughed. “And now for the macrosite where all the big fossils are located.” He turned to Daniel, his eyes twinkling in excitement. “You’ll want to take a look at this too. I uncovered something new today.”
    Pederson led them over to his excavation area first, where several ribs poked out of the ground. As he explained how he had uncovered them, Daniel looked closer. There were several more bones exposed, over to the right of the ones found earlier. They were inverted and not in line with the ­rest.
    “This skeleton is disarticulated, which in scientific terms means the bones are scattered,” explained Peders-on. “The skeleton is in a former riverbed and the current has washed it downstream, which caused it to come apart.”
    He led them over to Daniel’s ­section.
    “This lad here,” he patted Daniel’s shoulder, “uncovered these teeth, which we know are from a herbivore. These are important, because they are probably part of the skeleton from over there and that’s what helps us identify it.”
    “Why do you think that?” asked ­Craig.
    Pederson explained. “As the carcass of any animal rots, the teeth often come apart from the jaws. With the water velocity of the river 65 million years ago, these teeth were probably separated from the body.”
    As Craig and Todd stood mesmerized, Daniel beamed with pride at his findings. He remembered how thrilled he’d been discovering pieces from a much larger ­creature.
    Pederson continued. “All we can do is hope that most of the skeleton is here in the vicinity to help us identify it more accurately.”
    “Do you have enough yet to know what this one is?” Craig ­asked.
    “Just those pieces are not enough to go on.” Then, with a gleam in his eyes, Pederson pulled a tarp off a section and stepped back to reveal a much larger bone partially protruding from the ground. “But this is what I found so far today.”
    Daniel moved closer and stared. A partial skull! Without thinking about the others possibly following him and the restrictions they had for staying behind the ropes, he went closer to examine it. Sinking to his knees, he examined the skull more closely. He touched the dark brown contours, running his hands over the huge, rough, sunken eye sockets. If it was what he thought it was, this would be the first one found in ­Saskatchewan.
    “ Stygimoloch . Maybe,” Pederson said, hardly able to contain ­himself.
    Daniel whooped! His guess had been right. “Wow! Really?”
    Pederson nodded. “I’m reasonably sure.”
    “Does Dr. Roost know?” Daniel asked, wondering about her ­reaction.
    “No, lad, I wanted you to see it first. I wouldn’t let her peek.”
    Daniel felt his body swell with pride. Mr. Pederson was treating him like an equal, a colleague! Daniel felt a huge grin spread across his ­face.
    Pederson turned to include the Nelwins. “We always suspected that Stygimoloch would have been in this area too, but so far they’ve only been found across the border in Montana and in Wyoming. If this turns out be one, it will prove they lived here too.”
    The Nelwins seemed entranced as Pederson explained that the creatures were ­unusual looking, with bony spikes and bumps on their skulls. “We’ll have to find more of the skeleton, and do some research, examinations, and comparisons to be certain if this is really one.”
    Then Pederson turned to them and warned, “You’re the first ones to hear about this, so you’ll need to keep it a secret for the time being. Can you do that?”
    Todd and Craig nodded in ­agreement.
    “When will it become public knowledge?” asked

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