Latest news with #JamesHagadorn
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Unexpected dinosaur bone found beneath Denver museum parking lot
In a serendipitous occurrence, a dinosaur museum in Denver found a fossil underneath its own parking lot. According to news reports, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a dinosaur fossils hub, was recently drilling down hundreds of feet to explore for geothermal energy. Upon inspecting the drilling bore, scientists discovered the unexpected rare find — a dinosaur bone dating back to 67.5 million years ago. The odds of finding a dinosaur fossil in a narrow drill core are very slim, experts say, which is why this discovery sparked great enthusiasm in the museum. 'It's basically like winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning on the same day,' James Hagadorn, curator of geology at the Museum, said per the museum's online magazine. Found more than 763 feet below the museum's parking lot, the bone is 'the deepest and oldest fossil ever discovered within Denver city limits,' according to an official press release. Scientists identified the bone as part of vertebra from a plant-eating dinosaur, similar to a thescelosaurus or edmontosaurus. These herbivores roamed the swampy lowlands that modern Denver used to be during the late Cretaceous period. Sediment carried by rivers and floods would then bury the carcasses of these dinosaurs, eventually fossilizing in layers of rock, which now make up part of the Denver Basin. Despite the novelty of this discovery, Colorado has previously unearthed fossils in unlikely places. The Colorado Rockies mascot, Dinger, was born from the discovery of a rib bone and other fragments underneath Coors Field. In addition, Hagadorn told ABC News 'tons of cool fossils' have been found underneath Denver International Airport. But Colorado is not the only land mine with 'Jurassic'-esque fossils. In 2021, a geology professor and his wife collected rocks for their garden from a construction site Campus at the University of Massachusetts during their stroll. After asking the workers, Mark McMenamin and his wife Diana, picked up about 15 to 20 rocks. According to a Newsweek article, MacMenamin noticed one of the rocks had a different texture. It was a fossil. McMenanim carried out testing and discovered their intended ornamental rock to be an elbow bone for a predatory dinosaur known as Theropoda. These carnivores were around 30 feet long, had hollow limb bones, bladelike teeth and lived over 140 million years ago in the Early Jurassic period. In 2017, a home owner in Portugal stumbled upon a dinosaur fossil in his backyard amid home renovations. According to CNN, the owner contacted a paleontologist research team after noticing several fossilized bone fragments. Upon digging, the paleontologist unearthed a pristine huge rib cage, measuring nearly 10 feet in length. The remains belonged to a sauropod, one of the biggest dinosaurs, and largest animals to have ever lived. Sauropods had long necks and tails, ate plants, walked on four legs and lived sometime between the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous periods around 160 to 100 million years ago.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Denver Museum Discovers Dinosaur Fossil 763 Feet Beneath Its Parking Lot: 'Nothing Short of Magical'
Researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science uncovered a nearly 70-million-year-old dinosaur fossil buried deep beneath the museum's parking lot It was uncovered about 763 feet underground and is now on display at the museum's "Discovering Teen Rex" exhibition Experts identified the bone as a vertebral centrum, likely from an herbivorous species of dinosaurResearchers from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science did not have to look far to acquire a new artifact after they uncovered a nearly 70-million-year-old dinosaur fossil buried deep beneath the museum's parking lot. Back in January, officials were carrying out a geothermal test drilling project onsite in City Park and decided to conduct a coring research initiative to study the Denver Basin's geology at the same time, during which they discovered a partial-bone fossil about 763 feet underground. It's the "deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever found within city limits," a representative for the museum said in an online news release. 'This is a scientifically and historically thrilling find for both the Museum and the larger Denver community,' said Dr. James Hagadorn, a curator of geology for the museum. 'This fossil comes from an era just before the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, and it offers a rare window into the ecosystem that once existed right beneath modern-day Denver.' A research article published by the journal Rocky Mountain Geology identifies the bone as a vertebral centrum, likely from an herbivorous species of dinosaur. "This may be the most unusual dinosaur discovery I have ever been a part of," said Dr. 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 for the Museum earth sciences team to produce an article led by Denver Museum of Nature & Science postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Holger Petermann.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Now, it's on display at the museum's "Discovering Teen Rex" exhibition. '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," Earth Sciences Research Associate Dr. Bob Raynolds said. "That this fossil turned up here, in City Park, is nothing short of magical.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Unearth Dinosaur Fossil in Incredibly Ironic Location
Dinosaur discoveries are nothing new in Colorado, but this one took scientists by surprise because it was found beneath a dinosaur museum's own parking lot. While drilling 763 feet into the ground as part of a geothermal energy study, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science unearthed a fossilized vertebra belonging to a small, plant-eating dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. The bone, roughly hockey puck-sized, was buried for an estimated 67 million years, NBC News reported. 'Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon,' said James Hagadorn, curator of geology at the museum. 'It's like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It's incredible, it's super rare.' The odds truly were astronomical. Bore samples that are narrow, just a couple of inches wide, rarely yield fossils, let alone a dinosaur vertebra beneath the museum's own lot. According to museum officials, there have been only two other similar finds from bore holes anywhere in the world. The fossil's characteristics suggest it came from an ornithopod—likely a duck-billed dinosaur or thescelosaurus. Nearby fossilized vegetation points to a lush, swampy environment once covering the area. The irony of the discovery isn't lost on museum staff. The DMNS is a popular destination for dinosaur enthusiasts, featuring full-size skeletons of species like the T. rex. Now, one of the museum's most recent fossil additions was sitting directly beneath the cars of visiting guests. While the find is generating buzz, not everyone is calling it a scientific game-changer. 'It's a surprise, I guess. Scientifically, it's not that exciting,' said Thomas Williamson, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Still, local paleontologists celebrated the moment. 'It's absolutely legit and VERY COOL!' said Erin LaCount of Dinosaur Ridge. As for excavating deeper? That's unlikely. 'I would love to dig a 763-foot hole in the parking lot to excavate that dinosaur, the rest of it,' Hagadorn joked. 'But I don't think that's going to fly because we really need parking.'Archaeologists Unearth Dinosaur Fossil in Incredibly Ironic Location first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 13, 2025
The Independent
4 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Below a Denver museum filled with dinosaur skeleton exhibits, a 70 million-year-old fossil is unearthed
A museum popular for its dinosaur displays has found a fossil bone in an unexpected location extremely close to home – under its own parking lot. The discovery was made underneath the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, a much-loved venue for dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages. It came from a hole drilled more than 750 feet (230 meters) deep to study geothermal heating potential. This latest find is not so visually impressive. Even so, the odds of finding the hockey-puck-shaped piece of rock were impressively small. With a bore only a couple of inches (5 centimeters) wide, museum officials struggled to describe just how unlikely it was to hit a dinosaur, even in a region with a fair number of such fossils. 'Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It's like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It's incredible, it's super rare,' said James Hagadorn, the museum's curator of geology. Only two similar finds have been noted in bore hole samples anywhere in the world, not to mention on the grounds of a dinosaur museum, according to museum officials. A vertebra of a smallish, plant-eating dinosaur is believed to be the source. It lived in the late Cretaceous period around 67.5 million years ago. An asteroid impact brought the long era of dinosaurs to an end around 66 million years ago, according to scientists. Fossilized vegetation also was found in the bore hole near the bone. 'This animal was living in what was probably a swampy environment that would have been heavily vegetated at the time,' said Patrick O'Connor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Dinosaur discoveries in the area over the years include portions of Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops-type fossils. This one is Denver's deepest and oldest yet, O'Connor said. Other experts in the field vouched for the find's legitimacy but with mixed reactions. 'It's a surprise, I guess. Scientifically it's not that exciting,' said Thomas Williamson, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque. There was no way to tell exactly what species of dinosaur it was, Williamson noted. The find is "absolutely legit and VERY COOL!' Erin LaCount, director of education programs at the Dinosaur Ridge track site just west of Denver, said by email. The fossil's shape suggests it was a duck-billed dinosaur or thescelosaurus, a smaller but somewhat similar species, LaCount noted. The bore-hole fossil is now on display in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, of course, but there are no plans to look for more under the parking lot. 'I would love to dig a 763-foot (233-meter) hole in the parking lot to excavate that dinosaur, the rest of it. But I don't think that's going to fly because we really need parking,' Hagadorn said.
Arab Times
4 days ago
- Science
- Arab Times
A dino museum makes a find deep under its own parking lot
DENVER, July 12, (AP): A Denver museum known for its dinosaur displays has made a fossil bone discovery closer to home than anyone ever expected, under its own parking lot. It came from a hole drilled more than 750 feet (230 meters) deep to study geothermal heating potential for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The museum is popular with dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages. Full-size dinosaur skeletons amaze kiddos barely knee-high to a parent, much less to a Tyrannosaurus. This latest find is not so visually impressive. Even so, the odds of finding the hockey-puck-shaped fossil sample were impressively small. With a bore only a couple of inches (5 centimeters) wide, museum officials struggled to describe just how unlikely it was to hit a dinosaur, even in a region with a fair number of such fossils. "Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It's like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It's incredible, it's super rare,' said James Hagadorn, the museum's curator of geology. Only two similar finds have been noted in bore hole samples anywhere in the world, not to mention on the grounds of a dinosaur museum, according to museum officials. A vertebra of a smallish, plant-eating dinosaur is believed to be the source. It lived in the late Cretaceous period around 67.5 million years ago. An asteroid impact brought the long era of dinosaurs to an end around 66 million years ago, according to scientists. Fossilized vegetation also was found in the bore hole near the bone. "This animal was living in what was probably a swampy environment that would have been heavily vegetated at the time,' said Patrick O'Connor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Dinosaur discoveries in the area over the years include portions of Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops-type fossils. This one is Denver's deepest and oldest yet, O'Connor said. Other experts in the field vouched for the find's legitimacy but with mixed reactions. "It's a surprise, I guess. Scientifically it's not that exciting,' said Thomas Williamson, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque. There was no way to tell exactly what species of dinosaur it was, Williamson noted. The find is "absolutely legit and VERY COOL!' Erin LaCount, director of education programs at the Dinosaur Ridge track site just west of Denver, said by email. The fossil's shape suggests it was a duck-billed dinosaur or thescelosaurus, a smaller but somewhat similar species, LaCount noted. The bore-hole fossil is now on display in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, of course, but there are no plans to look for more under the parking lot. "I would love to dig a 763-foot (233-meter) hole in the parking lot to excavate that dinosaur, the rest of it. But I don't think that's going to fly because we really need parking,' Hagadorn said.
