Transcript of Panel Text and Description of its Pictures Follows

110 million years ago, in autumn, a pack of Deinonychus shattered the early morning calm of a Montana conifer forest.

Startled forest dwellers -- include a herd of Tenontosaurus -- look on as the predatory Deinonychus poise to attack their victim.

Fossils of these animals have been excavated from the Cloverly formation, a rock series that covers north-central Wyoming and extends into southern Montana. It is one of the few areas with well-preserved vertebrate fossils from this time period.

Since no plants were found in the Cloverly Formation, these plants are based on fossils from the Kootenai Formation of Montana, a rock series of the same age.

PICTURE CAPTIONS:

  • Cladophlebis -- fern
  • Cycadeoidea -- cycad relative
  • Ginkgo pluripartita -- ginkgo
  • Sequoia -- redwood
  • Taxodium -- bald cypress
  • Equisetum montanensis -- horsetails
  • Arcellites -- water fern; look for this aquatic plant in the crocodile pond
  • cypress log with termites (Cretatermes); walk around the bald cypress trees and look closely at the rotting log to see the worker and soldier termites

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