Triceratops skull found in Thornton

[GilpinGuy]

I was a geologist in my former life, so I find this stuff cool as hell.
71833

LINK (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/08/30/construction-crew-unearths-triceratops-skull-colorado/615582001/)

Construction crew unearths triceratops skull in Colorado
THORNTON,Colo. - A construction crew unearthed a triceratops skeleton and skull at a construction site in Thornton on Friday. (http://on9news.tv/2gpXk0r)

Paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science came to the construction site on Monday to examine the skeleton.

Joe Sertich, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs, says it’s one of only three triceratops skulls found in the Front Range area.

“A lot of times these will be plowed up and they won’t be recognized,”Sertich said. “We’re really lucky in this case that it was recognized as fossils and we got the call.”

The triceratops was at least 66 million years old – something a little different from the 10,000 to 12,000-year-old fossils Sertich says are usually found in the Denver area.

The difference in this case was construction crews were digging deeper for this building than they usually do to build parking lots and other structures – something that allowed them to get closer to an era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

“My heart was racing!” Sertich said. “As soon as uncovered it and realized this was a horn of a triceratops and not just another leg bone or part of a hip, it made the site really exciting.”

Construction crews have stopped work in the area so scientists can expose the fossil, look for other bones and then extract them, the city of Thornton said.

When the fossil is safely removed, the hope is that one day it will be housed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

“A soon as I got on site, I realized it was a pretty important dinosaur find, which are pretty unusual in the Denver area,” Sertich said.

[sigmanx]

That's a pretty cool find. I'm big into that kind of stuff myself.

Sent from my 2PQ93 using Tapatalk

[roberth]

Very cool!! When I was little I read every dinosaur book I could get my hands on.

[Great-Kazoo]

Very cool!! When I was little I read every dinosaur book I could get my hands on.

The Flintstones comics don't count.

[StagLefty]

I thought "Blaster Bob " moved ? [Sarcasm2][ROFL2]

[BPTactical]

I thought "Blaster Bob " moved ? [Sarcasm2][ROFL2]


BOOM!
Head shot!

[roberth]

The Flintstones comics don't count.

YABBA DABBA DOOOOOOO[Beer]

[CapLock]

I hear of a museum in Kentucky that says them was saddle broke. LoL.

[flogger]

There goes someone's tight construction schedule

[OtterbatHellcat]

Yeah, bummer on the slowdown.......BUT.......pretty neato on the find. I heard it might be a complete fossil and if I'm not mistaken, that would like the fourth or fifth complete Triceratops found ever?

Honestly, I think the find is more important than some government building for sure, I hope it ends up being an important find when everything is all said and done.

ETA:...I thought I heard Trex on early reports. Triceratops just as neato.

[GilpinGuy]

Yeah, I agree that a 66 MILLION YEAR OLD fossil is more important than some government.....anything being delayed.

[Duman]

WILLLLLLMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

[JohnnyDrama]

There goes someone's tight construction schedule

Yep.

Dinosaurs take a long time to dig. Really cool when they get them out though. It'd be especially cool if the skeleton stayed in Colorado.

If it were a pipeline they'd probably go around it.

[cstone]

Apparently the fossilized bones were found in sand which is unusual. Normally the fossils are found in hard rock and the bones need to be chiseled or cut out of the rock. They are working with small hand picks and brushes and most of the bones found so far are already on their way to the Denver Museum and will be cleaned up and viewable this weekend.

My wife and I drove by today. All that we could see from Quebec St. were the tops of the hard hats and the fencing in the middle of the construction site. Much of the construction around the site was still proceeding. There were two Thornton PD cars sitting at the entrance to the site to make certain motorists didn't stop or turn into the construction site.

It is interesting but apparently not that unusual. Most digs aren't deep enough to get to 66 million year old fossils. Many of the digs that are deep enough are made by workers who don't recognize or don't notify anyone of what they uncover.

It reminds me of a Roald Dahl non-fiction story about the Mildenhall Treasure. https://www.roalddahlfans.com/dahls-work/short-stories/the-mildenhall-treasure/

[KevDen2005]

There goes someone's tight construction schedule

2 to 8 weeks supposedly

[Gman]

It's Dinger's cousin!

[hollohas]

Yeah, I agree that a 66 MILLION YEAR OLD fossil is more important than some government.....anything being delayed.Delays cost money. And delays in government cost tax payer money.

Hopefully they get it out quickly.

[GilpinGuy]

The less government does the better IMHO.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Ding ding.

[Justin]

Triceratops is a classic! What an awesome find!

[Gman]

I hadn't seen this mentioned, so...

Thornton triceratops fossil preparator Mike Getty died Monday at excavation site (http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/12/thornton-fossil-preparator-died/)

Mike Getty, the chief fossil preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, was a renowned field worker with unparalleled skill and an incredible work ethic. And he had what friends described as a “Getty sphere” around him, drawing others in and making them laugh.

The tight-knit paleontology field was reeling after learning that Getty died Monday after becoming ill while working on the excavation of the newly discovered triceratops in Thornton.

[flogger]

That's too sad, it sounds like he was passionate in his job and very well liked. Not knowing the details, it looks like he was engaged in something that he really enjoyed doing when he passed.

Condolences to his family and friends.

[theGinsue]

<clip>
The tight-knit paleontology field was reeling after learning that Getty died Monday after becoming ill while working on the excavation of the newly discovered triceratops in Thornton.

It's a shame this gentleman died, particularly at such an important find. But I'm left wondering how long until the rumors begin that the fossil is cursed or possesses an ancient biologic/disease that has now been exposed.

[Great-Kazoo]

But I'm left wondering how long until the rumors begin that he died as a result of fracking

[KevDen2005]

It's a shame this gentleman died, particularly at such an important find. But I'm left wondering how long until the rumors begin that the fossil is cursed or possesses an ancient biologic/disease that has now been exposed.

I started spreading that rumor days ago

[cstone]

It's like that time Bobby Brady found the Hawaiian tiki idol. Bad juju.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YsN0y7vZI

[KevDen2005]

It's like that time Bobby Brady found the Hawaiian tiki idol. Bad juju.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YsN0y7vZI

Very intense television

[BPTactical]

It's like that time Bobby Brady found the Hawaiian tiki idol. Bad juju.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YsN0y7vZI

Did they ever find Greg?????

[rondog]

How fookin' big would a damn triceratops skull be? Gotta be huge!

[Gman]

Triceratops found in Denver a rarer dino after all (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/triceratops-found-in-denver-a-rarer-dino-after-all/ar-BBGjtZW)

The seeming bones of a triceratops found at a Denver-area construction site turned out to be those of a much rarer dinosaur.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science said Tuesday that the skull and partial skeleton found in the suburb of Thornton last August belonged to a torosaurus, the triceratops' close cousin.

“While the number of good triceratops specimens collected from the American West likely exceeds 2,000 individuals, there are only about seven partial skulls of torosaurus known," Joe Sertich, the museum's dinosaur curator, said in a statement.

"The Thornton beast is by far the most complete, and best preserved, ever found.”

[JohnnyDrama]

How fookin' big would a damn triceratops skull be? Gotta be huge!

The skull I saw was somewhere between refrigerator and couch size.

[rondog]

The skull I saw was somewhere between refrigerator and couch size.

Ya, that's big enough!

[GilpinGuy]

So cool! Thanks for updating the thread! I love this stuff.