Remember that triceratops skull found in Denver in August? It’s actually something much rarer | VailDaily.com

Remember that triceratops skull found in Denver in August? It’s actually something much rarer

News | December 6, 2017

The Associated Press
A fossil of what was thought to be a triceratops dinosaur discovered by construction workers on Aug. 25 in Thornton. Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs Joe Sertich said at the time that the find was one of three triceratops skulls found along the Colorado Front Range and has likely been there for at least 66 million years.
City of Thornton

DENVER (AP) — After a month of cleaning and studying what looked like a triceratops’ skull and skeleton, researchers have re-identified the fossil found at a suburban Denver construction site.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science said Tuesday said the fossil turned out to be the rarer torosaurus, a close cousin of the triceratops.

A dinosaur curator at the museum, Joe Sertich, says there are about 2,000 triceratops specimens in the Western United States and only about seven torosaurus fossils. Sertich added that this one is one of the most complete and better preserved than ever found before.

The fossil nicknamed “Tiny” was found Aug. 29 when workers building a public safety building in Thornton discovered a horn.

The museum says the cleaning process is expected to take several more months.

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