Scientists Find Giant 152-Million-Year-Old Log In Utah

Paleontologists are happy after finding a massive ancient petrified log in Vernal, reported ABC 4. The huge "Manwell Log" is 12 feet long and weights more than 16,000 pounds. That's more than a bus!

The log is a petrified section of a tree that once lived about 152 million years ago. It was found in an area known as "The Graveyard of the Dinosaurs."

The Utah Department of Natural Resources said that the area where the log was found was once a dense forest with a large population of plant-eating dinosaurs.

The Manwell log was named for the woman who originally found the first one about nine years ago. Mary Beth Bennis, education curator for the Utah Field House of Natural History Museum, said:

"Manwell visited the Utah Field House of Natural History and told me about an incredible log she had come across while she was working. I don’t recall exactly what she did, but I believe it was survey work. Since she had no GPS coordinates, I took as accurate a description as I could of the tree’s location to better our odds. Somewhat remarkably we found the log and began to gather data on it."

Since the first discovery, about 24 more of the petrified logs have been found. Visitors can check the log out at The Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum in Vernal.