In the summer of 2007, Bob Boscarelli excavated and documented a Camarasaurus at Red Canyon Ranch near Shell, Bighorn County, Wyoming — deep in the heart of the Morrison Formation. The dig was run by paleontologist Bob Simon; Bosco’s primary role was the hands-on excavation of the specimen — uncovering, stabilizing, and assisting in its removal — while photographing and filming the recovery and explaining the work to visiting groups. What followed was one of the most remarkable private fossil documentation projects in the region: week after week of excavation revealing articulated sauropod skeletons, massive limb bones, and an extraordinary concentration of Late Jurassic material spanning the entire excavation season from late June through early August.
The Morrison Formation at this location preserves a bone bed from approximately 155–145 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period. The dominant taxon recovered was Camarasaurus sp. — the most common sauropod dinosaur of the Morrison Formation — along with associated elements consistent with Camarasaurus sp. and indeterminate sauropod material. The site was also visited by paleontologist Paul Sereno, who examined specimens and advised the crew during one memorable dig day.
Location: Red Canyon Ranch, Shell, Bighorn County, Wyoming | Formation: Morrison Formation | Age: Late Jurassic (~155–145 Ma) | Season: June–August 2007
The following photographs document fossil specimens recovered or observed in situ at the Shell Wyoming excavation site. All images are © Bob Boscarelli / BoscosRockPile.com. High-resolution versions are available for research and publication licensing — see the contact section below.
These photographs document the excavation team, methods, and progress across the 2007 field season. The dig involved a core crew of experienced fossil preparators working alongside visiting paleontologists, geologists, and members of the public on tour days. The Morrison Formation cliff faces visible in many images show the characteristic red, grey, and tan banding of floodplain and lacustrine sediments that have preserved these remarkable specimens for 150 million years.
The Morrison Formation is a sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rocks deposited approximately 155–145 million years ago across what is now the western United States. The formation represents a vast semi-arid floodplain environment — the ancient heart of North America — and contains one of the richest concentrations of dinosaur fossils ever discovered. Major taxa documented from the Morrison include Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and dozens of other species.
Camarasaurus was the most abundant large sauropod of the Morrison Formation. Adults reached lengths of 15–23 meters and could weigh 20 tons or more. The genus is characterized by its short, blunt skull (unlike the elongated skull of Diplodocus), robust vertebrae with prominent neural spines, and proportionally longer forelimbs. The Shell, Wyoming site preserves exceptional articulated material suggesting death and burial events that kept skeletal elements in anatomical position through the fossilization process. The Shell specimen proved to be an unusually complete individual — exceeding ninety percent preservation. Several of its bones show healed trauma, indicating the animal survived significant injuries during life; this kind of pathological evidence offers rare insight into sauropod biology beyond skeletal structure alone.
All photographs on this page are original field documentation images taken by Bob Boscarelli during the 2007 Shell Wyoming excavation season. The images displayed here are web-optimized versions. High-resolution archival files are available for:
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Bob Boscarelli has maintained this paleontological archive for nearly two decades as a personal project, without institutional funding or outside support. Licensing fees help sustain the ongoing digitization, preservation, and documentation of this unique historical record.
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