New Jersey is a fossil hotspot, with answers about the day the dinosaurs died
Paleontologist Ken Lacovara has transformed a New Jersey quarry into a major fossil excavation site and museum. The site contains a unique sediment layer that provides a detailed record of the immediate aftermath of the asteroid impact that caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
Why it matters
This site offers unprecedented scientific insight into the mechanics of the fifth mass extinction, helping researchers understand how Earth's ecosystems collapsed 66 million years ago.
Ken Lacovara is something of a paleontology rock star. In 2004, he discovered the Dreadnoughtus, a new dinosaur species that later debuted on the big screen in Jurassic World Dominion .
Lacovara has spent his career roughing it in remote excavation sites in Egypt, the Gobi Desert, Montana, and Patagonia. But his latest research is much closer to home — in the New Jersey suburbs.
What started as a dirt pit behind a Mantua Township strip mall has turned into one of the world's most important excavation sites, and is now the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum, which recently opened to the public.
A time machine back to the Cretaceous Period
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in