Denver Museum Unearths Rare 67-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Bone Under Parking Lot

In an astonishing twist of fate, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science stumbled upon a treasure far older than any exhibit inside its walls—a 67.5-million-year-old dinosaur bone, buried over 750 feet beneath its own parking lot. This jaw-dropping discovery, made during a routine analysis for geothermal heating potential, has left even seasoned curators in awe.

James Hagadorn, the museum’s curator of geology, described the find as ‘super rare,’ likening it to ‘hitting a hole in one from the moon.’ And honestly, who can blame him for the hyperbole? Unearthing a fossil in a narrow, five-centimeter bore hole is nothing short of a miracle. The bone, believed to be a vertebra from a small, plant-eating dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period, was accompanied by fossilized vegetation, painting a picture of a lush, swampy world long gone.

Patrick O’Connor, the museum’s curator of vertebrate paleontology, noted that this could be Denver’s deepest and oldest find yet. It’s a humbling reminder that history—prehistoric history, no less—lies just beneath our feet, even under the mundane asphalt where we park our cars. While some experts have downplayed the scientific significance of the fossil itself, the sheer improbability of the discovery has captured imaginations. After all, only two similar finds have ever been recorded in bore holes worldwide.

For now, the fossil is proudly on display at the museum, inviting visitors to marvel at a relic of a bygone era. As Hagadorn quipped, he’d love to dig a massive hole in the parking lot to uncover the rest of the creature—but alas, parking spaces are a modern necessity. Sometimes, even dinosaurs have to take a backseat.