Dinosaur claw fossil found on Minnesota’s Iron Range

Dinosaur fossil found at Hill Annex Mine

(AP) – A dinosaur claw fossil found on northeastern Minnesota’s Iron Range could help researchers better figure out what sort of dinosaurs lived in the state.

The fossil, described as a small claw bone, was found this summer by a team of researchers at Hill Annex Mine.

The bone is being analyzed by paleontologists at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

John Westgaard, volunteer project lead at the Science Museum of Minnesota, says the fossil appears to have originated about 90 million years ago.

Minnesota Public Radio News reports it’s one of only a handful of dinosaur fossils that have been found in Minnesota.

Macalester College paleontologist Kristi Curry Rogers says researchers have known that dinosaurs existed in Minnesota, but the condition of the sediment at the time didn’t preserve their fossils.