Episode Transcript
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Speaker 3 (00:00):
Will.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Most families go to the Denver Museum of Nature and
Science to explore the artifacts, fossils, and archives already discovered
by the scientists and curators. But little did they know
another rare discovery was made right under the museum's parking lots.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The museum's team found a seventy million year old dinosaur fossil,
now known as the deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever
found within the city limits and joining us now in
the ka Commic Spirit Health hotline. Doctor James Hagidorn, Curator
of Geology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science,
doctor talking about how fortuitous it is, ironic, maybe to
some degree, that coincidental, even that you actually find something
(00:37):
like this, a fossil right underneath your feet.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
It was absolutely incredible. I felt like the kid and
Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. Something like this only
happens once in a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
If that tell us how it was discovered, because it's
not like you were searching for this fossil at the
time in the parking lot.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, you know, that's the beauty of it is. So
much to science is serendipity, right, It's luck right place,
right time, and then knowing what to look for right
and seeing it. And in this case, we were drilling
a well in the museum's parking lot to understand the
subsurface geology of City Park and help inform our understanding
of if and or how to build a geothermal well
(01:18):
field there, and we just happened to puncture a diosaur
bone that was seven hundred and sixty three feet below
the museum's parking lot.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
What is the fossil, the bone and what species is it?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, the bon we don't know what species it is.
It's really hard to tell from a tiny piece of
bone like that. But what we do know is that
it was from a dinosaur. It was probably a plant
eater or an herbivore, and it was probably very similar
to some of the plant eaters that roam ancient Colorado
during the Cretaceous period, things like duck build dinosaurs, ornithopods,
(01:52):
and the like. So we know that the bone was
from the backbone. Also, you know, the bones of your
body have very stereotypical spongy textures, ructures in them, and
markings on them, and so some of that was preserved
enough to tell us it was from the spine or
vertebrae of the animal.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Doctor Hagodorn, I think it's pretty fascinating that you said
a lot of this is just knowing what you're looking for.
So with that being said, do you think there is
more out there that maybe construction crews or other people
in the Denver area are discovering but they're not scientists
like you, guys that know exactly what they're finding at
the time.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Absolutely, And you know, that's one of the most exciting
things about living and working in Colorado as a geologist
and actually is just an everyday citizen. You know, whether
you're out hiking or as you said, you're on a
construction site, there are more discoveries waiting to be made underground,
whether they're in the mountains or right here in the
middle of the city. So I think the possibilities are
(02:50):
almost limitless.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Doctor. From your perch, obviously you get excited about all
these discoveries, But do you think us lay people we
sometimes just take them for granted, saying it's more we've
got this. Have some of us maybe lost our fascination
with this?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
You know what, every kid has curiosity, and every adult
still has some of their inner kid, and I think,
you know, things like this hopefully will catalyze people's curiosity.
I get emails I probably identify. I get probably maybe
two hundred, two hundred and fifty people a year write
me at the museum and email me and say, James
or doctor Hegdon, I found this rock. What is it?
Or Hey, I found this thing? Is it a dinosaur bone?
(03:26):
Or hey is this a fossilized shell? And we always
write back and say, hey, it is or it isn't,
and we try to help them out. So you'd be
surprised that there are lots of folks out there that
are that are curious in finding things, and we're always
happy to help. So I just encourage folks to reach
out to the museum or someone in your network if
you do find something of interest, because who knows, maybe
(03:47):
you found the next bonanza.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Tell our listeners where they can see this new fossil
on display? And was there more exploring done when you
guys started the construction as well? Was it once you
found one did you search for more?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
The amazing thing is this bone that's in a or
piece of a bone that's in a core is actually
on display at the museum right now in the Team
Rex exhibit on the first floor. And the neat thing
about that specimens it belongs to you, the people, and
so you can see at anytime, and well that is
anytime the museums open, I should say, in terms of
did we open up a bigger hole and excavate the
(04:24):
whole parking lot to get out the rest of the skeleton?
That was a little bit beyond our scope. But it's
nice to.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Think about a quick follow up to that, What are
we still learning? What can we still learn about dinosaur
from the dinosaurs? About life we know today?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Well, one thing we can learn is how environments change
through time. So one of the things about the layers
of the earth beneath us is that they tell a story,
just like reading a book or reading the rings on
a tree, except that information is from deep time, from
sixty seventy eighty million years ago. And so every time
we find a fossil or a mineral or an in
(05:00):
interesting structure in ancient rock that's new. It helps inform
us about how our planet was in the past and
also how it changed. And that's exciting because our planet
is changing now and it gives us information about how
it might change in the future, and how we can
adapt and manage that.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Go check out the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
It's an awesome museum. You can find more information at
dm ns dot org. Doctor James Hagobnorn, the curator of
Geology at the museum, thank you so much for joining
us this morning and for this awesome discovery.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Thank you so much. Having an amazing day,
Will.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Most families go to the Denver Museum of Nature and
Science to explore the artifacts, fossils, and archives already discovered
by the scientists and curators. But little did they know
another rare discovery was made right under the museum's parking lots.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
The museum's team found a seventy million year old dinosaur fossil,
now known as the deepest and oldest dinosaur fossil ever
found within the city limits and joining us now in
the ka Commic Spirit Health hotline. Doctor James Hagidorn, Curator
of Geology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science,
doctor talking about how fortuitous it is, ironic, maybe to
some degree, that coincidental, even that you actually find something
(00:37):
like this, a fossil right underneath your feet.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
It was absolutely incredible. I felt like the kid and
Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. Something like this only
happens once in a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
If that tell us how it was discovered, because it's
not like you were searching for this fossil at the
time in the parking lot.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Well, you know, that's the beauty of it is. So
much to science is serendipity, right, It's luck right place,
right time, and then knowing what to look for right
and seeing it. And in this case, we were drilling
a well in the museum's parking lot to understand the
subsurface geology of City Park and help inform our understanding
of if and or how to build a geothermal well
(01:18):
field there, and we just happened to puncture a diosaur
bone that was seven hundred and sixty three feet below
the museum's parking lot.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
What is the fossil, the bone and what species is it?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Well, the bon we don't know what species it is.
It's really hard to tell from a tiny piece of
bone like that. But what we do know is that
it was from a dinosaur. It was probably a plant
eater or an herbivore, and it was probably very similar
to some of the plant eaters that roam ancient Colorado
during the Cretaceous period, things like duck build dinosaurs, ornithopods,
(01:52):
and the like. So we know that the bone was
from the backbone. Also, you know, the bones of your
body have very stereotypical spongy textures, ructures in them, and
markings on them, and so some of that was preserved
enough to tell us it was from the spine or
vertebrae of the animal.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Doctor Hagodorn, I think it's pretty fascinating that you said
a lot of this is just knowing what you're looking for.
So with that being said, do you think there is
more out there that maybe construction crews or other people
in the Denver area are discovering but they're not scientists
like you, guys that know exactly what they're finding at
the time.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Absolutely, And you know, that's one of the most exciting
things about living and working in Colorado as a geologist
and actually is just an everyday citizen. You know, whether
you're out hiking or as you said, you're on a
construction site, there are more discoveries waiting to be made underground,
whether they're in the mountains or right here in the
middle of the city. So I think the possibilities are
(02:50):
almost limitless.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Doctor. From your perch, obviously you get excited about all
these discoveries, But do you think us lay people we
sometimes just take them for granted, saying it's more we've
got this. Have some of us maybe lost our fascination
with this?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
You know what, every kid has curiosity, and every adult
still has some of their inner kid, and I think,
you know, things like this hopefully will catalyze people's curiosity.
I get emails I probably identify. I get probably maybe
two hundred, two hundred and fifty people a year write
me at the museum and email me and say, James
or doctor Hegdon, I found this rock. What is it?
Or Hey, I found this thing? Is it a dinosaur bone?
(03:26):
Or hey is this a fossilized shell? And we always
write back and say, hey, it is or it isn't,
and we try to help them out. So you'd be
surprised that there are lots of folks out there that
are that are curious in finding things, and we're always
happy to help. So I just encourage folks to reach
out to the museum or someone in your network if
you do find something of interest, because who knows, maybe
(03:47):
you found the next bonanza.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Tell our listeners where they can see this new fossil
on display? And was there more exploring done when you
guys started the construction as well? Was it once you
found one did you search for more?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
So?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
The amazing thing is this bone that's in a or
piece of a bone that's in a core is actually
on display at the museum right now in the Team
Rex exhibit on the first floor. And the neat thing
about that specimens it belongs to you, the people, and
so you can see at anytime, and well that is
anytime the museums open, I should say, in terms of
did we open up a bigger hole and excavate the
(04:24):
whole parking lot to get out the rest of the skeleton?
That was a little bit beyond our scope. But it's
nice to.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Think about a quick follow up to that, What are
we still learning? What can we still learn about dinosaur
from the dinosaurs? About life we know today?
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Well, one thing we can learn is how environments change
through time. So one of the things about the layers
of the earth beneath us is that they tell a story,
just like reading a book or reading the rings on
a tree, except that information is from deep time, from
sixty seventy eighty million years ago. And so every time
we find a fossil or a mineral or an in
(05:00):
interesting structure in ancient rock that's new. It helps inform
us about how our planet was in the past and
also how it changed. And that's exciting because our planet
is changing now and it gives us information about how
it might change in the future, and how we can
adapt and manage that.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Go check out the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
It's an awesome museum. You can find more information at
dm ns dot org. Doctor James Hagobnorn, the curator of
Geology at the museum, thank you so much for joining
us this morning and for this awesome discovery.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Thank you so much. Having an amazing day,
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