UW’s Geology Journal Marks 60 Years With Denver Dinosaur Discovery Article

The latest issue of the University of Wyoming’s only peer-reviewed scientific journal, Rocky Mountain Geology, features an article on a major dinosaur discovery in downtown Denver as the publication marks its 60th year.

The article, “Denver’s deepest dinosaur,” details a 67.5-million-year-old dinosaur fossil unexpectedly found in January beneath the parking lot of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The museum was conducting geothermal test drilling and carrying out scientific coring research to better understand the geology of the Denver Basin. The coring investigation led to the fossil discovery.

“We’re delighted to feature this amazing discovery in our scientific journal, which has published peer-reviewed research in our region for six decades now,” says UW Professor Emeritus Art Snoke, co-editor of the journal. “Rocky Mountain Geology publishes research of significance in our region, and the dinosaur fossil certainly qualifies as a major finding worthy of attention.”

The dinosaur bone recovered from the scientific core -- drilled 763 feet below the surface of the Denver museum’s parking lot -- has been identified as the deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever found within the city limits. Patrick O’Connor, director of earth and space sciences at the museum, was part of the team that identified the bone as a vertebra of an herbivorous dinosaur. The bone occurs in Late Cretaceous rocks dated to about 67.5 million years ago.

“This is a scientifically and historically thrilling find for both the museum and the larger Denver community,” said James Hagadorn, curator of geology at the museum. “This fossil comes from an era just before the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, and it offers a rare window into the ecosystem that once existed right beneath modern-day Denver.”

The journal article’s primary author was Holger Petermann, a postdoctoral scholar at the museum. The fossil is being displayed on the museum floor in the “Discovering Teen Rex” exhibition this month.

“This may be the most unusual dinosaur discovery I have ever been a part of,” O’Connor adds. “Not only is it exceptionally rare to find any fossil as part of a drilling project, but the discovery provided an outstanding collaborative opportunity for the museum earth sciences team to work together.”

About the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain region’s leading resource for formal and informal science education. Many of the museum’s educational programs and exhibits are made possible, in part, by the citizens of the seven-county metro area through the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

About Rocky Mountain Geology

Rocky Mountain Geology, a semiannual publication of UW’s Department of Geology and Geophysics, is recognized as the premier journal for research on the geology of the Rockies. The journal was first published in 1962 and was called Contributions to Geology. While it included papers on the geology of the Rockies, its topics were not limited to the region for its first three-plus decades. In 1998, the name was changed to Rocky Mountain Geology as part of a complete makeover of the publication.

In 2004, Rocky Mountain Geology helped found Geoscience World, an online collection of 42 journals. The journal succeeds financially, in part, because of an endowment established by an anonymous donor. Current co-editors are Snoke and fellow UW Emeritus Professor Ron Frost.