Frick dinosaur hunters seek new ground as clay extraction ends

Dinosaur researchers in Frick are looking beyond their main excavation site after decades of digging, as the clay-pit operator has stopped extracting clay and part of the pit is being filled, SRF reports.

Researchers can continue digging in one corner of the pit. They also look for fossils when construction work exposes the ground. Geologist Andrea Oettl, director of the Frick Dinosaur Museum, said bones can be found just two metres below the surface. The museum stays in contact with the municipal construction office to avoid missing opportunities.

The Fricktal, a region in the north of the canton of Aargau, was very different around 200 million years ago, Oettl said. It was relatively flat, dry and sparsely vegetated for much of the year. During heavy rains, waterways likely formed among giant horsetails and tree ferns, and dinosaurs probably roamed there in the wetter season.

Fossil excavations in Frick began in 1976. Before then, people thought the bones could not be recovered because they would disintegrate. A preparator from the University of Zurich and a student excavated part of a Plateosaurus. A large foot from the plant-eating dinosaur is still on display at the museum.

Several more Plateosaurus skeletons have since been found, particularly in the clay pit. The dinosaurs were between five and eight metres long. Frick is also the only known source of Notatesseraeraptor frickensis, a predatory dinosaur. Some other finds remain under study, including flying reptiles and lizard-like animals.

Excavations usually take place in summer and involve extensive manual work. The museum is funded by the municipality and ticket sales, while grants from the canton of Aargau and sponsors help pay for fossil recovery and preparation. Funding for next year’s excavations is secured, Oettl said, but the following years remain uncertain.

Oettl said Frick is one of the world’s most productive sites for the Late Triassic, an early period in dinosaur history, and has yielded many different animal species. A new museum has been under consideration for years. The collection is currently housed in a former school and a neighbouring factory hall, and the museum hopes to move closer to the excavation site. Oettl expects that would take several years.