A fossilized dinosaur bone has been discovered beneath the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, turning a routine drilling project into an extraordinary find.
The discovery happened during a geothermal survey. Workers drilled more than 750 feet into the ground to explore future energy options for the museum. The borehole, just two inches wide, pulled up something unexpected: a small fossil shaped like a hockey puck.
“Finding a dinosaur bone in a core is like hitting a hole in one from the moon. It’s like winning the Willy Wonka factory. It’s incredible, it’s super rare,” said James Hagadorn, the museum’s curator of geology.
Museum officials confirmed that only two similar fossil finds have ever been reported from deep core samples worldwide, none of them from the grounds of a dinosaur museum.
The bone is believed to be part of a vertebra from a small, plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 67.5 million years ago. This places it near the end of the dinosaur age, just before an asteroid struck Earth around 66 million years ago, causing mass extinction.
Fossilized plant material was also recovered from the same borehole.
“This animal was living in what was probably a swampy environment that would have been heavily vegetated at the time,” said Patrick O’Connor, the museum’s curator of vertebrate paleontology. This fossil is not only the oldest ever found on museum grounds, but it’s also the deepest.
JURASSIC PARK-ING: 67-MILLION-YEAR-OLD DINO FOSSIL FOUND UNDER MUSEUM PARk
While testing for geothermal energy under its own parking lot, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science pulled up a dino bone buried 763 feet below pic.twitter.com/YzvRqXCXr1— News Around the world (@Godswill200364) July 11, 2025
The Denver area in Colorado has long been known for rich dinosaur finds. Nearby digs have uncovered parts of Tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops-like species. But this latest discovery stands out because of where and how it was found.
Still, reactions among paleontologists have been mixed. “It’s a surprise, I guess. Scientifically, it’s not that exciting,” said Thomas Williamson, a curator at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Scientifically, it’s not that exciting since scientists can’t conclusively say what species it came from.
Others found the discovery more thrilling.
It is, “absolutely legit and VERY COOL!” said Erin LaCount, director of education programs at Dinosaur Ridge, just west of Denver. She suggested the fossil’s shape hints it may have come from a duck-billed dinosaur or a similar species known as the Scelidosaurus.
The fossil is now on display inside the museum. But despite the excitement, there are no plans to dig deeper.
“I would love to dig a 763ft (233-meter) hole in the parking lot to excavate that dinosaur, the rest of it. But I don’t think that’s going to fly because we really need parking,” Hagadorn said.