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They paved paradise and found dinosaur bones in the parking lot

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James Hagadorn examines scientific cores at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. These cores, taking during a geothermal energy feasibility project, were home to a partial dinosaur bone dating back 67.5 million years. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
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DENVER — If you’ve been to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, you’ve probably noticed the massive dinosaur and the wooly mammoth sculptures in and around the parking lot.

But this week the museum is celebrating a discovery made hundreds of feet below the asphalt.

In January of this year, while drilling nearly 1,000 feet below the surface as part of a project to determine if the museum could transition to geothermal heating, researchers discovered a partial dinosaur bone dating back 67.5 million years.

According to the museum, this discovery marks the deepest and oldest dinosaur bone uncovered in the city limits. Scientists believe the bone is part of a vertebra from a plant-eating dinosaur.
A portion of the dinosaur bone recovered from the scientific core. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
A portion of the dinosaur bone recovered from the scientific core. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
“This may be the most unusual dinosaur discovery I have ever been a part of,” said Patrick O’Connor, director of Earth & Space Sciences at the Museum. “Not only is it exceptionally rare to find any fossil as part of a drilling project, but the discovery provided an outstanding collaborative opportunity.”

Researchers found the bone in a layer of rock formed during the late Cretaceous Period, the final period of the Mesozoic Era. During that time, the land that is now Denver was a tropical forest with “towering palm trees, thick vines and lush undergrowth,” according to the museum.

“This is a scientifically and historically thrilling find for both the Museum and the larger Denver community,” said James Hagadorn, the museum’s curator of geology, in a press release.

Hagadorn said the fossil comes from a time just before the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
Video courtesy DMNS
The geothermal feasibility study that led to the bone’s discovery dates back to 2024. The Colorado Energy Office awarded the museum a $250,000 grant so that DMNS could test the viability of replacing natural gas with a more environmentally friendly geothermal system to heat and cool the museum.

“In my 35 years at the museum, we’ve never had an opportunity quite like this, to study the deep geologic layers beneath our feet with such precision. That this fossil turned up here, in City Park, is nothing short of magical,” said Bob Raynolds, an earth sciences research associate at the museum.
Bob Raynolds examines the dinosaur fossil. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
Bob Raynolds examines the dinosaur fossil. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
Gussie Maccracken, David Krause and Patrick O'Connor study the dinosaur fossil. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
Gussie Maccracken, David Krause and Patrick O'Connor study the dinosaur fossil. Photo courtesy Rick Wicker, DMNS
This is not the first time researchers have unearthed ancient bones in the Denver metro. People found dinosaur bones during the construction of Coors Field in the early 90s. In 2017, a construction crew in Thornton, Colorado, found the most complete Torosaurus — a rare cousin of the Triceratops — specimen in history. In 2019, the construction of a senior living facility in Highlands Ranch led to the discovery of a partial Triceratops skeleton.

The recently discovered vertebra is now on display at the Denver Museum of Nature in Science. You can see it as part of the museum’s “Discovering Teen Rex” exhibition.
Type of story: News
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