Wannagan Collection

One of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s largest and most scientifically valuable paleontology collections is the 60 million-year-old Wannagan Creek collection from western North Dakota. Around 16,000 specimens were collected from this site, which at the time was a thriving lake/swamp ecosystem.

Approximately half of the specimens that were collected belonged to Borealosuchus formidabilis, a 14-foot-long relative of modern crocodiles. The other half of the collection contains hundreds of other species of reptiles, mammals, birds, fish, snails, clams, insects, amphibians, plants, fungus, and trace fossils like burrows, trackways, and coprolites (fossilized poop).

One of the standouts from the Wannagan Creek collection is a beautifully preserved specimen of Champsosaurus gigas, a crocodile-like reptile, which includes a nearly complete skull preserved in intricate detail. These reptiles had tiny teeth across the roof of their mouth, which made them excellent at catching fish!

Another fantastic set of specimens from Wannagan Creek are the numerous fungus fossils. Fungus fossils are super rare, because most fossils are only made from the hard parts of an organism (like bones and shells), and fungus is entirely soft-bodied. This means that conditions must have been exceptional at Fossil Lake Wannagan to preserve fossils like these, which appear as concentric circles.

The Wannagan Creek collection also contains many pathologic, or injured, specimens showing things like arthritis, broken bones, and infections. For example, this Borealosuchus formidabilis tibia specimen broke in the center, but then began to heal, as seen in the bulge in the center of the bone. This means that the animal lived for a while after receiving this injury, and was on its way to healing when it died.

New species named from Wannagan Creek

At this time, 10 new species have been named from the Wannagan Creek collection, with more species currently in the works!

• Borealosuchus formidabilis (crocodile-relative)
• Wannaganosuchus brachymanus (alligator-relative)
• Gomphaeschna schrankii (dragonfly)
• Kouphichnium pentapodus (trackway)
• Protochelydra zangerli (early snapping turtle)
• Dakotornis cooperi (bird)
• Oreopanax dakotensis (plant)
• Liticuniculatus erectus (burrow)
• Oligichnos limnos (burrow)
• Borealosuchipus hanksi (trackway)