The Red Dead Redemption 2 dinosaur bones are a particularly unusual collectible, when compared to the other more mundane items such as dreamcatchers and cigarette cards you'll be searching for elsewhere! You first discover these Jurassic relics during a peculiar side quest in Red Dead Redemption 2, which can be started in the region to the southeast of Horseshoe Overlook. Search around that area and you'll encounter Deborah MacGuiness, an archaeologist looking for assistance who will kick off the 'A Test of Faith' Stranger mission when you engage in conversation with her. This sends you off on a quest to find all 30 Red Dead Redemption 2 dinosaur bones, and your reward for recovering those errant fossils is a special knife for your arsenal.
Spoiler warning: The last eight Red Dead Redemption 2 dinosaur bones are located in a spoilery part of the map that you likely won’t be able to fully access until you reach the game’s epilogue. If you’ve not reached that point in the story yet, you might want to stop at bone 22 for the time being.
Bone 1
Bone the first can be found a little south of Dewberry Creek, in Lemoyne. You can find it bedded into the banks of a shallow ravine.
Bone 2
Located north of the last bone in Dewberry Creek, on the banks of a dried-up river.
Bone 3
Can be found east of Flatneck Station, on the slopes of a grassy hill.
Bone 4
This bone sits on a hill in the shadow of a rocky outcrop, situated to the northeast of Flatneck Station.
Bone 5
Slap bang in the middle of The Heartlands. Find the gold-digging site, then take the ladder down to find the bone at the bottom of the cave.
Bone 6
Northeast of Heartland Overflow lake, near some bushes at the top of a hill.
Bone 7
A slightly tricky one this, as you have to climb down the rocky banks of the Kamassa River. Better leave your horse - no bone is worth snapping your steed’s neck over.
Bone 8
To the east of Butcher Creek, in the heart of the forest. Use your Eagle Eye vision to spot it among all the thick trees.
Bone 9
A little south of Brandywine Drop, buried among some autumnal leaves.
Bone 10
This boney bad boy sits on a hill near the rail bridge to the west of Roanoke Valley.
Bone 11
To the north of Grizzlies East, nestled among the pretty petals on one of Abarino’s loftiest hills.
Bone 12
This bone lies to the west of O’Creagh’s Run, on top of a narrow cliff. Kill two birds with one stone while you’re in the region completing the excellent ‘The Veteran’ Stranger mission.
Bone 13
You’ll find this unlucky chap to the northeast of Donner Falls, bedded into a rock face beside some large boulders.
Bone 14
Located at Bacchus Station. You can find this prehistoric customer lying on a small ledge.
Bone 15
To the west of Fort Wallace, on the edge of a cliff. Be careful when you take your horse up there; space isn’t exactly plentiful.
Bone 16
You can find this bone sitting atop a cliff overlooking the trees of Cumberland Forest.
Bone 17
Located on the banks of the river northwest of Valentine, planted firm in a rock wall.
Bone 18
On the opposite side of the river from the last bone, sunk into the soil atop one of the overlooking cliffs.
Bone 19
Further down river from bone 17, and firmly planted in yet another wall of rock, just like its pal upstream.
Bone 20
Buried away in a cave to the northwest of Wallace Station. Take a lamp.
Bone 21
Found on one of the sparser slopes of Big Valley. There aren’t that many trees in this location, so it should be easy to see.
Bone 22
Atop a steep cliff to the east of Black Bone Forest.
*** FINAL WARNING FOR SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Bone 23
The first of the semi-spoilery bones. This one is located in Pike’s Basin in Hennigan’s Stead. This area is more or less inaccessible because of patrolling sheriffs until you reach the epilogue.
Bone 24
You can find this bone on top of a hill near the banks of the San Luis River.
Bone 25
Sitting near the edge of Rio Del Lobo Rock. All those memories of the original Redemption are flooding back. *sniff*
Bone 26
This bone is dug into the hills of Rio Bravo. It’s partially hidden by a big ol’ cluster of bushes.
Bone 27
In the prairies to the northeast of Fort Mercer, planted near a large cactus.
Bone 28
Found in Rattlesnake Hollow, stuck in the side of a rock formation. Watch out for snakes!
Bone 29
You’ll find the penultimate bone in the deserts of Gaptooth Ridge. Keep an eye out for the cacti and you can’t go wrong.
Bone 30
The final bone is found in Tumbleweed, teetering precariously over the side of a cliff. Assuming you don’t break your neck fetching it, head to the nearest post office and mail your findings to MacGuiness. You’ll be rewarded with a Quartz Chunk and Skull Statue.
To finish the quest, sleep for an in-game day, then travel back to a post office. You’ll find a letter from your archaeologist pal inviting you to meet her northeast of Valentine. Visit the new quest marker that pops up on the map, and once you get there, Deborah will show you the completed dino skeleton. She even rewards you with a special Bone Knife for all your intrepid dino detective work. Alan Grant would be proud.
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