Denver Museum Finds Dinosaurs in their Backyard!
The fossil found in the museum parking lot!
Post Author- Ellis Nolan
For patrons of a popular Denver museum, newly discovered dinosaur fossils are quite literally in their backyard!
According to a recent article, a dinosaur fossil of a herbivore, as well as various plant fossils, was recovered after drilling in the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. To determine the geothermal potential of the museum grounds, workers bore a 2.5 inch wide and 750 foot deep hole in the parking lot. Upon analyzing the contents of the sample, they discovered a vertebrae of a herbivorous dinosaur, likely from an ornithopod. The fossil is now on display at the museum.
Researchers at the museum describe this as a “needle in a haystack” occurrence. Despite many dinosaur fossils being found in Colorado, how narrow the hole actually was makes this find truly serendipitous. They also say that this fossil is not only the oldest to be found in Denver at 67 million years old, but also the deepest in the ground, at 763 feet deep. While there is no plan to dig up the rest of this dinosaur, many scientists in the archaeological community have chimed in to verify the authenticity of the fossil found, but note that it isn’t a particularly interesting specimen,
Many other impressive dinosaur specimens have been found more or less by accident, such as the recently discovered Borealopelta or Hadrosaur, the former in a quarry in Alberta, Canada, and the latter in what is known as “Dinosaur Provincial Park,” also in Alberta. Who knows? Maybe the next big dino discovery will be in your backyard!
Interested in learning more about dinosaurs? Check out our dinosaur collection here!
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