Latest news with #Tyrannosaurus
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
See it: Dinosaur fossil found beneath natural history museum in Denver
DENVER - Officials stumbled upon a 67-million-year-old dinosaur bone beneath the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) during a drilling project, the DMNS announced on Wednesday. The discovery occurred in the spring of 2024 when the museum was conducting a geothermal feasibility project. As part of that project, officials drilled cores about 1,000 feet into the ground to learn about the geology beneath City Park and the larger Denver Basin, the DMNS said. Inside one of those cores, scientists found a piece of vertebra from the backbone of a plant-eating dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. Officials likened it to the two-legged Thescelosaurus. Dinosaur Fossil Revealed After Heavy Rains In Brazil During that time, the land that is now Denver was a tropical and swampy ecosystem with tall palm trees and lush vegetation, according to museum officials. This environment was rife for herbivorous dinosaurs, such as the species the partial vertebra came from, as they foraged amid the brush and even coexisted with the Tyrannosaurus rex. "The partial dinosaur bone found in a core sample beneath the Museum provides a direct glimpse into this buried world, preserved for millions of years beneath the city," the DMNS said in a statement. How To Watch Fox Weather Analysis of the dinosaur bone was published in Rocky Mountain Geology in article source: See it: Dinosaur fossil found beneath natural history museum in Denver
Arab Times
3 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.
New York Post
4 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Denver dino museum makes a find deep under own parking lot, Like ‘a hole in one from the moon.'
DENVER (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. 5 Ornithopod vertebra fossil in a core sample. AP 5 Boxes of cores from the City Park core drilling in the parking lot at Denver Museum of Nature and Science. AP 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. 5 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. AP 5 A vertebra of a smallish, plant-eating dinosaur is believed to be the source. AP 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. 5 Geologist James Hagadorn closes boxes of core rock samples. AP 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.
NBC News
4 days ago
- Science
- NBC News
A Denver dino museum makes a find deep under own parking lot
DENVER — 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.
1News
5 days ago
- Science
- 1News
US dinosaur museum makes a find deep under own parking lot
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 230 metres 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 kids 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 5 centimetres 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. ADVERTISEMENT '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. Core drilling used for geothermal feasibility and research to show what lies beneath the museum in the north parking lot at Denver Museum of Nature and Science. (Source: Denver Museum of Nature and Science via AP) 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. Fossilised 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. ADVERTISEMENT 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. Part of a fossilized vertebrae from a herbivorous dinosaur found deep under the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. (Source: Associated Press) 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 programmes 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. ADVERTISEMENT 'I would love to dig a 763-foot (233-metre) 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.
