Please credit P. E. Olsen for photos Location of Sites high res. image (120K) The two sites, Exeter and Pennsburg, are both in the Newark rift basin (in dark gray). The rift formed between 230 to 190 million years ago as North America pulled away from the fragmenting supercontinent of Pangea.

Hypsognathus high res. image (120K) Reconstruction of the "parareptile" Hypsognathus based on material found in Meriden Connecticut. Skull is about 5 inches wide in large specimens. Drawing by Paul E. Olsen.

First Skull Found at Exeter high res. image (120K) Mr. Brian Hartline of Mt. Penn, PA found the first skull of Hypsognathus at the Exeter Site. The specimen consists of most of the left side of the skull roof (seen here as preserved from below). Much of the bone had already fallen out by the time Mr. Hartline found it. The inset shows an outline reconstruction of the skull with the gray part missing in the fossil.

Second Skull Found at Exeter high res. image (120K) The second skull at Exeter was found by Mr. Mike Szajna, also of Mt. Penn, PA. This skull consists of the right side of the face viewed here from the inside. The inset shows an outline reconstruction of the skull with the gray part missing in the fossil. The penny is for scale.

Pennsburg Skull high res. image (120K) Mr. Joseph Ciske and Mr. Robert Hoffman found what is most likely a third Hypsognathus skull near Pennsburg, PA. This skull is presently in five pieces, and only the piece containing the snout is shown here. In total, all but the back part of the skull is preserved. The inset shows an outline reconstruction of the skull with the gray part representing the other pieces as well as the missing parts of the skull. The penny is for scale.

Brian Hartline and Mike Szajna high res. image (300K) The discoverers of the skulls at Exeter, Mr. Brian Hartline (left) and Mike Szajna (right) from Mt. Penn, PA holding the two blocks of rocks containing the skulls of Hypsognathus (the white shapes). Check out their web site at http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/3491.

Joseph Ciske and Robert Hoffman high res. image (300K). Joseph Ciske (left) and Robert Hoffman (right) of North Hampton Co., near Allentown, PA discovered the Pennsburg skull of Hypsognathus in a pile of transported rubble and traced the rock to a nearby excavation.