Overview

• Researchers recovered the partial vertebra from a core drilled 763 feet beneath the Denver Museum of Nature & Science parking lot during a January geothermal feasibility project
• Analysis published June 1 in Rocky Mountain Geology dates the fossil to about 67.5 million years ago and identifies it as an ornithopod similar to Thescelosaurus or Edmontosaurus
• The bone was encased in carbonaceous mudstone interpreted as a pond- or swamp-like environment at the end of the Cretaceous, marking the deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil found within Denver city limits
• Museum officials emphasize the discovery’s significance for both renewable energy planning and reconstructing the Late Cretaceous ecosystem beneath modern Denver
• Now on display in the Discovering Teen Rex exhibit, the specimen is drawing widespread public interest and spotlighting the museum’s sustainability and outreach efforts