You might call Lyle the only All-Big 12 dinosaur. Two of the conference's schools played vital roles in recovering the gigantic Camarasaurus -- a process that spanned more than half a century.

Removing the dino bones.

A Wyoming school teacher almost literally stumbled upon Lyle in 1941. He immediately reported his huge fossil find to his alma mater, the University of Nebraska, which sent a small crew to the Black Hills location. Too small of a crew, unfortunately.

"WHAT THEY DISCOVERED WAS ESSENTIALLY A HILL FILLED WITH BONES," says paleontologist Matt Christopher. He is overseeing the final processing of Lyle's bones in the new Dino Lab.

When the Nebraska crew began unearthing those bones, the enormity of their task became apparent. Lyle's thigh bone, alone, weighs more than 600 pounds.

"Nebraska realized they'd need a bigger crew, so they filled the hole with plaster, with the intent of returning the following summer," Matt explains. "By then, there were no men or money for dinosaur digs."

The Pearl Harbor attack Dec. 7, 1941, had plunged the United States into World War II, so Lyle was left where he lay, almost forgotten for 56 years. In the 1950s, the Wyoming rancher on whose land Lyle rested grew so discouraged, thinking paleontologists would never return, he bulldozed over the site, protecting the skeleton from the elements and erosion.

KU WOULD EVENTUALLY FINISH THE EXACAVATION JOB THAT NEBRASKA HAD SCARCELY STARTED BACK IN '41.

The University's researchers finally came to Lyle's rescue in 1997. They not only found Lyle's skeleton nearly intact, they discovered the baby Nic-Mic and eventually another adult Camarasaurus, Annabelle. At the time, the curator of KU's Natural History Museum, Larry Martin, said, "This [site] is a real Jurassic Park."

Matt estimates it will be about two years before Lyle is ready for display.

"Lyle's about 140 million years old, so what's another two years?" he says. "Then again, I can hardly wait to see him back up on his feet."