Latest news with #Edmontosaurus
Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Scientists discover 67.5-million-year-old dinosaur fossil beneath Denver Museum parking lot
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Colorado located an approximately 67.5-million-year-old partial dinosaur bone 763 feet below its parking lot. What makes it a special discovery is that it is the oldest and deepest ever found in Denver. The museum, which has been popular and has attracted visitors for decades to see the fossilized bones of prehistoric behemoths, is filled with exhibits of dinosaur skeletons. The fossil was unearthed as part of a drilling project that was undertaken with the purpose of better understanding the geology of the Denver Basin, according to media reports. As a part of the project, the museum wanted to understand the geology to see if it would be possible to replace natural gas with geothermal systems to heat and cool the museum. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category others Leadership Management Healthcare Artificial Intelligence CXO Operations Management Technology Others Public Policy Degree MCA PGDM Project Management Data Science MBA Finance Data Analytics Product Management healthcare Design Thinking Data Science Digital Marketing Cybersecurity Skills you'll gain: Duration: 16 Weeks Indian School of Business CERT - ISB Cybersecurity for Leaders Program India Starts on undefined Get Details 'This partial vertebra from a plant-eating dinosaur offers an extraordinary glimpse into prehistoric Denver and the animals that inhabited this area,' the museum wrote in a statement, as quoted by Popular Mechanics. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 20 Pieces of Clothing Older Women should Avoid Learn More Undo Two drilling rigs drilled test holes beneath a paved parking lot at the museum, going nearly 1,000 feet deep. Earlier in 2025, one of the museum's geologists spotted a dinosaur bone while sorting through the finds, instantly sparking excitement among the staff. "There are never fossil emergencies," Hagadorn said in an interview. "But that was a fossil emergency," James Hagadorn, the museum's curator of geology, said in an interview. Live Events 'It's like winning a lottery': Museum curator on dinosaur bone discovery What are the chances of discovering a dinosaur bone in a core sample that's only 2.5 inches wide? 'It's basically like winning the lottery and getting struck by lightning on the same day,' says James Hagadorn, the museum's curator of geology, in the statement. Bob Raynolds, an Earth scientist who has been associated with the museum for 35 years, described the discovery as 'nothing short of magical.' It is, however, still not clear which species the bone came from, but media reports suggest that experts suspect the creature may have been similar to Thescelosaurus or Edmontosaurus. These two dinosaurs were known to have roamed the region around the same time. How Did Scientists Discover the Age The scientists used the existing map of the horizon and measured the depth of various fossil discoveries in the area and compared them with the one made in January 2025 to find out the estimated age of 70 million years. The fossil is cylindrical and just inches long, and there is a chance that it is a part of a bigger bone. The fossil is too small to be linked to a specific dinosaur. The museum team, though, hypothesizes that it belonged to an ornithopod, a small herbivore. It is also believed that this may be the oldest dinosaur fossil found in the Denver area. Following the latest major discovery, scientists at the museum are confident that there are more fossils buried in the excavated materials from the drilled core and have been combing through them to see if there are others.
11-07-2025
- Science
Jurassic Park-ing lot: Dino fossil turns Denver museum into dig site
Like finding mountains of gold bars below a bank or happening upon a rare piece of art hidden beneath a gallery, a Denver museum that's full of fossils serendipitously discovered -- wait for it -- a dinosaur bone, right under its parking lot. "Wow, what are the chances?" James Hagadorn, a geology curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, told ABC News. Back in January, the museum found a fossil of a plant-eating dinosaur, believed to be nearly 68 million years old, lying about 800 feet below the parking lot, the museum announced this week. At the time of the discovery, scientists were conducting a "geothermal test drilling project" to determine whether the museum could use the heat of the Earth underneath the parking lot in City Park, Colorado, the museum said in a press release. This dino-mite find, which Hagadorn described as "quite the cherry" on top of the project's intended mission, was discovered 763 feet below the surface and was identified as the "deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever found within the city's limits," the museum said in a press release. Museum scientists believe the fossil the vertebra of an herbivorous dinosaur -- possibly a Thescelosaurus or Edmontosaurus -- that roamed the region 67.5 million years ago, which is "just days before the mass extinction that wiped our the dinosaurs," the museum noted. Hagadorn said his "head just exploded" when he heard the news of the discovery, which has been on display among the museum's collection of more than 300,000 fossils since Wednesday. "It was absolutely incredible. The first thing you say is, 'Are you sure? Is this real? Are you playing a joke on me?'" he said. "That's like finding a diamond deposit under the world's largest gem store or an archeological site buried underneath the parking lot of an archeological museum." Hagadorn noted that this isn't the first time Colorado has seen a discovery like this. Previously, a horn of a Triceratops was found underneath Coors Field's home plate and "tons of cool fossils" have been located underneath Denver International Airport, he said. "The exciting thing to me is that there's the potential to find more, and that's both thrilling in the sense of discovery, but it's also interesting because these things are good for science, they tell us about our place, they tell us about our ecosystems [and] they tell us how the plane has changed. So it's a win, win, win," Hagadorn told ABC News. Even though Hagadorn said he would "love to go 750 feet down" again and see if there are more potential fossils underneath the museum's parking lot, he said that would be unlikely due to the scope of such a project. "In order to go that deep, you've got to dig a very big hole and then hold that hole open either by lining it or making it tapered. If we think about a tapered hole that goes down that deep, that would probably consume all our parking lot and maybe part of the museum too. So boy, it's fun to think about, but I think it's unlikely," he said. Hagadorn expressed his hope that the fossil -- which is within the museum's "Discovering Teen Rex" exhibition -- reminds people that "there's lots of geology underfoot." "The layers of Earth underneath us tell us stuff that's useful, whether that information is from a fossil or a mineral or some water that's flowing underfoot," he said. "Imagine what's underneath your house or mine. Who knows?" Hagadorn said the museum will have "tons" of free admission days for "everyone to access" the fossil and anything else within the facility.
Miami Herald
10-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Dinosaur bone found under CO museum parking lot. See 67.5-million-year-old fossil
A team uncovered a partial dinosaur bone under a museum's parking lot, Colorado officials said. It all started with a 'geothermal feasibility project in the spring of 2024,' the Denver Museum of Nature and Science said in a July 9 News release. The team had goals of drilling hundreds of feet below the surface with hopes to use 'the Earth's internal energy to heat and cool the museum,' researchers said. But, what the museum didn't take into account during the project was it being led by scientists, making 'the urge to survey and study what's down there' 'irresistible,' researchers said. The team began drilling over 763 feet below the museum's parking lot when they came across a 'major dinosaur discovery,' the museum said on Facebook. Researchers found an 'ancient bedrock from the Late Cretaceous Period,' which didn't shock scientists – until they learned it contained a 67.5-million-year-old partial dinosaur bone, officials said. '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 in the release. 'No one could have predicted that this little square foot of land where we started drilling would actually contain a dinosaur bone beneath it!' The rock contained partial vertebrae of a 'plant-eating dinosaur, similar to a Thescelosaurus or Edmontosaurus,' researchers said. This marks the 'deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever found within' the city's limits, officials said. Smaller dinosaurs, like that of the Thescelosaurus, were 'agile and alert' hiding from their Tyrannosaurus rex predator and when the animals died, their remains would get buried into sediment that turned to rock after being carried through bodies of water, researchers said. '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. That this fossil turned up here, in City Park, is nothing short of magical,' Earth sciences research associate Bob Raynolds said in the release. For those who want to see the fossil, the museum has curated a display.
Axios
09-07-2025
- Science
- Axios
Dinosaurs once roamed Denver's City Park
Back in the Late Cretaceous era, 67.5 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed Denver's modern-day City Park. The intrigue: The Denver Museum of Nature & Science, on the eastern edge of the park, announced Wednesday it unexpectedly discovered a partial-bone fossil 763 feet below the surface of its parking lot. What they did: The discovery occurred when the museum conducted a drilling test this January to see if it could tap geothermal energy and took core samples down 1,000 feet into the ground. What they found: Museum scientists later identified the fossil as part of a vertebra from a plant-eating dinosaur, similar to a Thescelosaurus or Edmontosaurus. What they're saying: "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 Bob Raynolds said in a statement. "That this fossil turned up here, in City Park, is nothing short of magical."
Metro
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Walking With Dinosaurs viewers devastated as change has 'ruined' beloved show
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A reboot of iconic BBC series Walking With Dinosaurs returned to screens tonight, 26 years after its very first episode aired. The first of six hotly-anticipated brand new episodes followed the journey of three-month-old Triceratops Clover as she attempted to survive a harsh environment, pursued by a ravenous T-Rex. During her voyage, the orphan dinosaur also meets a young Edmontosaurus playmate with whom she forms a quick bond… before disaster strikes. Stepping in for original narrator Sir Kenneth Branagh, the rebooted Walking With Dinosaurs is voiced by The Crown star Bertie Carvel, who is along with Clover for every step of her perilous jaunt. But Bertie isn't the only human on the series' roster – it has now been updated to include segments in the present day, where experts examine fossilised dinosaur poo and dust off Clover's real-life bones. This format change has proved controversial among purists, who have hit back, saying that the show has now been 'ruined.' Writing on X as the first episode aired, fans shared their thoughts on the all-new Walking With Dinosaurs. 'The constant switching between the past and future ruins this for me. The original Walking with Dinosaurs never did this and was part of the reason why it was so successful,' wrote @AmyTeamLH, signing off: 'We want dinosaurs, not people.' @miss_laura_82 agreed, saying: 'Prefer the original version with dinosaurs not all this cutting to modern day digs. Just make a Jurassic time team for that and let us see the dinosaurs.' 'Are they going to interject the experts talking about dinosaurs with the Dinosaur reenactments? If they are going to do this all season, then sorry, I'm out!', said @RealEnli. 'Honestly what have they done to walking with dinosaurs??? Why are there humans? Why are we looking at people using drones?? I've barely seen any dinosaurs and its only ep 1,' bemoaned @Darklordofall23. Future episodes will travel to prehistoric Morocco, where a giant Spinosaurus – the largest dinosaur to ever roam the Earth – stalks the local rivers. And, in the present day, a dig team makes a series of discoveries about a tribe of Albertosaurus, while, in the past, a young female hunter attempts to prove herself to her tribe. Meanwhile, in Portugal, an old Lusotitan attempts to secure his bloodline by looking for love, facing off with a young rival as he meets his mate. Of the new series, the BBC head of commission said: 'A whole new generation of viewers is about to fall in love with Walking With Dinosaurs. 'The original series was one of the most exciting factual shows of all time, and this reinvention builds on that amazing legacy. More Trending 'Each episode is underpinned by the very latest science but is also filled with drama – making this a series for both dino lovers and people who just want to be told a great story.' First airing in 1999, the series' original iteration was watched by 15million viewers in the UK – making it one of the most-watched science programmes on British TV in the 20th century. Utilising the then-groundbreaking technology, it cost an eye-watering £6.1million to produce – equating to £37,654 per minute, and making it the most expensive documentary series ever made. Walking With Dinosaurs airs on Sundays at 6:25pm on BBC One with all episodes available for streaming on iPlayer now. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: Gary Lineker sneaks through underground entrance ahead of final Match of the Day MORE: Dawn French leads tributes after death of Alan Yentob aged 78 MORE: Doctor Who fans convinced they've worked out what shock villain is plotting
