Plesiosaur patrol

Carter County Museum employees visited a friend last Friday when they dug into a plesiosaur buried in the southern part of the county. Even with GPS coordinates, they had difficulty finding the fossil in the tall grass. I know it's here, said Stew Cook, "I can feel it in my bones."

The search exhibited just how difficult it is finding a known fossil, let alone discovering a new one, in the 40,000 square miles of Southeastern Montana. Erosion, ice melts and heavy rain can expose bones that were not present last year, last month or last week; It is like refreshing a webpage. It can pay off to co...