Dinosaur Eggs Unveiled at Sherman Dugan Museum of Geology

12/12/2022

Some extra-large eggs—a nest of six dinosaurs eggs were revealed to crowds of locals and their children at the Sherman Dugan Museum of Geology at San Juan College. Unbroken, and perfectly preserved, they were purchased and donated by Sean Dugan, son of Sherman, and grandson of Tom Dugan, an oil and gas family known for their generosity to San Juan County. By Donna K. Hewett This story is sponsored by Distill Beer, Wine, Spirits and CMIT Solutions

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Throngs of local families got to witness the unveiling of some extra large eggs: a nest of six fossilized dinosaur eggs at the Sherman Dugan Museum of Geology, located at the San Juan College School of Energy. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Distil Beer, Wine, and Spirits and CMIT Solutions. I'm Connor Shreve. The $30,000 six-egg clutch was donated by Sean Dugan, president of Dugan Production Corporation, an oil and gas firm in Farmington, New Mexico.

They're extremely rare. It's hard to find a nest like this intact to where it wasn't broken up and sold off in individual pieces. And it was a real lucky find while we were at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, and I knew as soon as I saw it that that's the kind of display I'd love to have in Farmington.

The fossilized oviraptor nest of eggs were recovered from a site in China and are thought to be 65 million years old. San Juan College President, Dr. Toni Hopper Pendergrass, announced the reveal to the many mesmerized children in attendance.

We're so glad that you joined us this evening as we unveil a new member of our prehistoric family. So when they do a reveal, do you think there's going to be pink or blue smoke that come up? You guys think it's a boy or a girl?

And then, the reveal itself.

So what that is an oviraptor nest. Right there, you can see it's the eggs right there, and they come all the way from China.

Family friend John Dean was a main part of the team that found the eggs at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, the largest event of its kind in the world.

So Sherman accumulated this world-class collection over a number of years, set out to do that, and he, as far as I can tell, he liked weird stuff, rare stuff, spectacular stuff. So I thought dinosaur eggs would fit right into that.

Sherman Dugan, for whom the museum is named, was a geologist. His father, Tom Dugan, was an engineer, so it's appropriate that some of the museum's dinosaurs come from the period in which oil and gas were formed. Like his father and grandfather before him, Sean Dugan delights in donating one-of-a-kind, prehistoric rarities for the community to learn from and enjoy.

Oh, I am just absolutely thrilled that the town of Farmington responded so well to this display, and I hope that every kid in town comes to see it and that it inspires someone to either follow their passions into geology or paleontology or anything in the sciences, and that would just be a win for me.

For more information, go to SanJuanCollege.edu/SchoolofEnergy/DuganMuseum. Thanks for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Connor Shreve.

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December 22, 2023

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