(The following press release was published verbatim from Montgomery County).
During routine spring maintenance at Norristown Farm Park, Montgomery County staff unearthed dinosaur bones dating to the late Jurassic period more than 150 million years ago, the County announced today.
Following a joint review led by Norristown Farm Park staff, in collaboration with researchers at University of Oxbridge, it has been determined the bones do not match any dinosaur specimens on record. The review committee has since named the new species Montgomerosaurus Rex.
“Our network of Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites is one of the County’s best hidden gems, full of natural beauty and centuries—now millennia—of history,” said Jamila H. Winder, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “I have walked along the trails at Norristown Farm Park with my family dozens of times, and I always thought it was just a weird rock. I applaud the County staff whose curiosity made them dig a little deeper to unearth this incredible discovery.”
In light of the historic discovery, a resolution to rename Norristown Farm Park as “Norassic Park” will come to a vote during the Board of Commissioners meeting this April.
“Norristown has been a crossroads for transit since its inception, and it’s no surprise that Jurassic-era migration patterns across the continent of Pangaea would lead us to discover a new dinosaur species here,” said Neil K. Makhija, Montgomery County Commissioner. “You’d be a fool not to think that this is just the tip of the iceberg. We look forward to future fossil finds as we establish the Commonwealth’s first county-level Fossil Expedition.”
Pending the Board vote to rename the park “Norassic Park,” a slate of immersive virtual reality exhibits, called Montco in the Mesozoic, will be unveiled later this summer to help residents imagine Montgomerosaurus Rex in its natural habitat.
“We’ve been chomping at the bit to celebrate America250 this summer, but it’s worth considering whether we should expand it to America250,000,000 at this point,” said Thomas DiBello, Montgomery County Commissioner. “I’ve always said Montgomery County has deep roots; I just didn’t realize they went back 150 million years.”
Though Montgomerosaurus Rex was found in incomplete form, enough of its skeleton has been preserved to determine what the dinosaur may have looked like.
“It’s exceedingly likely that Montgomerosaurus Rex was a type of herbivorous, flightless bird with a bulbous, but flexible thorax and long tubular snout not unlike that of an aardvark,” said Anita Shovel, Norristown Farm Park Forensics Director. “This region would have been a dense forest at this time, so it’s likely that its feathers would have been green. Furthermore, in order for this species to survive as long as it did, it would have had to stand more than 10 feet tall to reach vegetation.”
Following the dig, Norristown Farm Park staff reported the sighting of a large fossilized spotted egg in an ancient-looking nest. Staff insisted the egg was not part of any planned Easter activities at the park.
Visit https://www.montgomerycountypa.gov/PTHS for more unbelievable discoveries.
Montgomery County officials published this article as part of an April Fool's Day joke.
