01/14/2023
Exciting Fossil Discovery
The Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center, in partnership with the BLM-Royal Gorge Field Office, is excited to announce the discovery of two large fossils recently unearthed.
The Royal Gorge Region has long been famous for the discovery of a wide variety of prehistoric fossil remains. A tibia and fibula of a longneck sauropod dinosaur were first stumbled upon by a citizen who reported them to the BLM. After coordination with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), BLM, and the Museum & History Center, an excavation team was sent out to carefully extract the fossils. With these two newly unearthed fossils, the museum has the exciting opportunity to offer an up-close look at how dinosaur fossils are prepared and preserved.
The Museum & History Center is excited to present these fossils to the public starting with a grand fossil reveal on Saturday, January 21st at 10 a.m. Volunteers with the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS) along with museum paleo-volunteers will be working on preparing and preserving the recently excavated fossils in the museum’s Program Room every Friday and Saturday over the next several weeks starting on January 21st from 10 a.m – 4 p.m.
The museum is inviting the public to come and witness trained volunteers opening the casts to begin the preparation process. Fossil fans of all ages are welcome to visit the museum to observe our trained volunteers in action prepping the fossils, discover more about these fossils, and learn what all of us can do to protect and preserve our amazing paleontology resources.
The Museum and History Center is located in the City of Cañon City’s former Municipal Building at 612 Royal Gorge Blvd. The hours of the Museum and History Center are Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, please call the museum at (719) 269-9036 or send an email to [email protected].
