HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The number of triceratops fossils dug up from a construction site in Highlands Ranch keeps on growing. Now, 30 percent of the animal has been uncovered.
A partial rib and several other bones were discovered and join those already unearthed by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) dig team.
The fossils were discovered by construction workers at a site near Wind Crest, a continuing care retirement community.
The DMNS team would need to find about 200 bones at the dig site, called the quarry, to locate the entire skeleton.
“This is continually proving to be a really exciting dig! As weather and ground conditions allow us to dig, fossils keep popping out of the ground,” said Natalie Toth, chief fossil preparator at DMNS.
Construction workers stumbled upon the fossils in May.
“We are so grateful to Wind Crest, Brinkmann Constructors and Kelly Trucking for allowing us the opportunity to excavate these fossils and bring them back to the Museum to clean and stabilize them so that they will be available for visitors to view and for future research," Toth said.
Fossil finds are nothing new in Colorado, a rare fish fossil was discovered in southeastern Colorado -- one of only three of its kind in the world. The world’s first Stegosaurus fossil was found in Morrison, and one of the most complete Torosaurus skeletons was found in Thornton.
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