Montana Ranch Owners Declared Rightful Owners of Dinosaur Bones

Two Montana ranchers are the rightful owners of dinosaur fossils discovered on their property, the full Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday after the state’s supreme court said dinosaur bones weren’t within the ordinary meaning of “mineral” under state law.

The litigation was prompted by an amateur paleontologist discovering the remains of two dinosaurs who were fighting upon their death, which together would ultimately become known as the “dueling dinosaurs,” on a Montana ranch owned by Lige and Mary Ann Murray. The Murrays had purchased the surface estate and one-third of the mineral estate from the previous owners of the ranch, Jerry ...