JURASSIC PARKING LOT

Dinosaur Museum Makes Stunning Prehistoric Discovery Under Its Parking Lot

The institution’s geology curator likened the find to “hitting a hole in one from the moon.”

A natural history museum in Denver famed for its dinosaur exhibits made a one-in-a-million discovery this week after a prehistoric fossil was found underneath its parking lot. While drilling a 750-foot borehole to assess geothermal heating potential at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, museum staff accidentally uncovered a hockey-puck-shaped vertebra, which is believed to have once belonged to a small, plant-eating dinosaur that roamed the earth 67.5 million years ago. The find, which dates back to the Cretaceous period, is now the deepest and oldest fossil on display at the museum. “Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon,” said James Hagadorn, the museum’s geology curator. “It’s like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It’s incredible, it’s super rare.” Only two similar borehole fossil discoveries have ever been recorded worldwide. Experts believe the bone belonged to a duck-billed dinosaur or Thescelosaurus, a small herbivore, and fossilized vegetation found nearby suggests the creature lived in a lush, swampy environment. The fossil is now on display at the Denver museum, but further excavation is unlikely. “We really need parking,” Hagadorn joked.