Latest news with #RockyMountainGeology
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Science
- Indian Express
Dinosaur fossil unearthed beneath Colorado museum's parking lot
In a surprising event, scientists at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, in Colorado, US, have unearthed a rare dinosaur fossil. And not from a faraway dig site, but from right beneath the museum's own parking lot! The discovery, revealed by the museum on July 9, came during a routine drilling operation in January aimed at evaluating the feasibility of switching to geothermal energy. As the team extracted a cylindrical rock core from 760 feet below the surface, they encountered a fossilised vertebra measuring about 2.5 inches in diameter. It turned out to be the oldest and deepest dinosaur fossil ever found within Denver's city limits, according to the museum's release, cited by CNN. The partial vertebra is believed to belong to an herbivorous, bipedal dinosaur from the ornithopod group, a category of plant-eating dinosaurs that includes duck-billed hadrosaurs. Though scientists were unable to identify the exact species, the fossil dates back more than 67 million years, placing it in the Late Cretaceous period. 'We knew those dinosaurs were nearby in other parts of Colorado or Wyoming, but we didn't know that they were in Denver, too,' said Dr James Hagadorn, the museum's curator of geology, as per CNN reports. 'Now, we have another plant eater that's been cruising around Denver munching on, who knows, gingers and palm leaves and other ferns and plants 67 million years ago.' The museum, which houses about 115,000 fossils in its collection, has now placed the ornithopod vertebra on public display. Hagadorn noted that there are only two other known instances worldwide of a dinosaur bone being found through a core sampling project, making this fossil likely the first of its kind ever showcased in a museum. Despite the fossil's importance, the rest of the dinosaur's remains will remain underground. 'Unfortunately, we can't excavate our entire parking lot. Parking is really important at the museum and in all cultural centres,' Hagadorn joked according to CNN. 'But the bonus here is that people can now park right on top of a dinosaur.' The drilling project initially aimed to explore alternative energy sources, not fossils. 'It's like the lucky strike,' Hagadorn told CNN. The museum team has since used satellite and elevation data to date the new fossil and others in the Denver region more precisely. Their findings, published in Rocky Mountain Geology in June, offer a clearer picture of Denver's ancient inhabitants, which include not just ornithopods but also Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Torosaurus. 'No one ever dated these things before,' said Hagadorn. 'Today, we were able to use some specialised maps, geologic maps, GIS and really precise elevations that you can now get from satellites to place all these things in space and then in time.' (With inputs from CNN)
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- 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
12-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Dinosaur Appears to Have Died on the Exact Spot They Later Built a Dinosaur Museum, Burying Its Fossil Underneath It
In Denver, scientists uncovered a 67.5-million-year-old dinosaur fossil deep underground — and by chance, it just so happened to be buried underneath the parking lot of a museum that houses similar specimens. As the Denver Museum of Nature and Science explained in Catalyst, its online magazine, the ancient bone fragment was buried some 763 feet below the institution's parking lot, making it the oldest and deepest such fossil to be discovered within city limits. Beyond the coincidence of finding a dino bone underneath a museum of natural history, however, the way the bone was found also defies belief. Back in January of this year, researchers began drilling underneath the museum's parking lot to see if Earth's subsurface temperatures could heat and cool it sustainably. This "geothermal heating," as it's called, uses the same principle as hot springs, making this now-experimental form of renewable energy one of the oldest in the world. Once the two drill rigs got going, the scientists behind the project — which was carried out with a $250,000 grant from Colorado's governor, Jared Polis — decided to see what else they could find when digging deep into the Earth's crust. As a paper about the incredible find in the Rocky Mountain Geology journal explains, the scientists not only discovered interesting geological samples within the 2.5-inch sample core, but also, by pure chance, the nearly 70-million-year-old partial dinosaur bone. "It's basically like winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning on the same day," explained museum geology curator James Hagadorn in an interview with Catalyst. "No one could have predicted that this little square foot of land where we started drilling would actually contain a dinosaur bone beneath it!" Naturally, it took some fine-tuned research to determine that the bone was, in fact, from a dinosaur — and even still, the researchers behind the find can't say for sure what exact species it was or how it died. Ultimately, as explained in the Rocky Mountain Geology paper, the bone was determined to be a vertebral fragment from an ornithopod, a broad paleontological classification for bipedal, herbivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. As the museum detailed in a press release, the find wasn't just incredible because of the sheer chance of it all. "This fossil comes from an era just before the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs," Hagadorn, the museum's geology curator, explained. "This is a scientifically and historically thrilling find." As Rocky Mountain Geology notes, these sorts of "urban paleontological discoveries" are indeed rare — but when they do happen, they "ignite public interest in science and deepen our connection to nature." More on dinosaurs: Paleontologists Find Skeleton That Weirdly Looks Exactly Like Barney the Purple Dinosaur
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
70 million-year-old dinosaur fossil found beneath Denver museum's parking lot
***Video above: Prehistoric discovery made in Lorain County.*** DENVER (WJW) — Researchers with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science were thrilled after a dinosaur fossil from nearly 70 million years ago was discovered right under their feet. Back in January, while crews were conducting a geothermal drilling project outside the museum, they found a partial bone fossil that was 763 feet beneath the parking lot, officials announced in a Thursday press release. New luxury treehouse opens in Northeast Ohio Investigators said the bone, identified as the vertebra of a herbivorous dinosaur, 'occurs in Late Cretaceous rocks dated to approximately 67.5 million years ago.' Scientists have described the discovery as the deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever found in Denver city limits. 'This is a scientifically and historically thrilling find for both the museum and the larger Denver community,' James Hagadorn, the museum's geology curator, is quoted in the release. '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.' The findings, published in the scientific journal 'Rocky Mountain Geology' on June 1, determined that the bone belonged to a dinosaur similar to the Edmontosaurus or the Thescelosaurus, as depicted in the photo below. Popular Walmart water bottles causing permanent vision loss, lids forcefully eject: RECALL 'The specimen deepens our understanding of dinosaurs in the Denver Basin and encourages us to imagine all the fossils hidden right beneath our feet — a world still waiting to be discovered and explored!' the release continued. The fossil is now on display in the museum's 'Discovering Teen Rex' exhibit, officials said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
