In Denver, Colorado, it’s not uncommon for construction workers to unearth reptilian fossils that are tens of millions of years old.
A recent dinosaur excavation near a south Denver retirement community that began last May was reason for excitement even by Denver standards.
The scientists then unearthed a “horned” dinosaur, which they have now confirmed to be a triceratops, from the bedrock. The rock layer of the dig site dates back some 68 million years.
As the team began to carefully expose the find, it got pretty exciting; they began pulling huge fossils from the ground. The find consisted of a partial skeleton of an adult triceratops, and a pretty big one at that—definitely an exciting prospect for the team.
The excavation took several weeks—far longer than expected, and was still underway as late as last week—as they kept finding more and more bones. Among these were several ribs, an arm and a leg bone, as well as the ancient animal’s brain case.
“Finds like this, while relatively rare, are a great reminder of how dynamic our planet is and how much more there is out there to discover.”
Despite an underground aquifer and unrelenting rain, the team managed to package the very heavy bones in plaster-cast “jackets” for transportation with minimal disturbance to the specimens. The fossils are now in the capable hands of the museum staff.
Another horned lizard was found at a construction site in 2017. The specimen was a torosaurus—very similar to the triceratops except for one bone, said Natalie Toth, one of the scientists at the recent Highlands Ranch site.
During construction of Coors’ Field in the early 90s, Denver construction workers also stumbled on a 7-foot-long, 1,000-pound (approx. 454-kilogram) triceratops skull, as well as several other dinosaur skeletons.
For this reason, “Jurassic Park” was one of the first names for the stadium to be considered. The triceratops did make its appearance as the Rockies’ mascot Dinger.
