Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science gives Saunders Construction, inc. founder and chair Dick Saunders a close look after exposing the post orbital horn of the dinosaur fossil that was found in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science gives Saunders Construction, inc. founder and chair Dick Saunders a close look after exposing the post orbital horn of the dinosaur fossil that was found in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostDenver Museum of Nature & Science uncased the post orbital horn of the dinosaur fossil that was found in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science talks to the crowd and reporters on Sept. 8, 2017 after exposing the post orbital horn of the Triceratops fossil that was found in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostAnastasia Kullman 9, watching as the post orbital horn of the Triceratops fossil that was found in Thornton is exposed. The protective jacket was sawed into to show a piece of one of the fossils.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science holds the casing of a fossil that was found in Thornton. The protective jacket was sawed into to expose a piece of one of the fossils. Denver.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science exposing the post orbital horn of the dinosaur fossil that was found in Thornton. The protective jacket was sawed into to expose a piece of one of the fossils in Denver Sept. 8, 2017.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science exposing the post orbital horn of the Triceratops fossil that was found in Thornton. The protective jacket was sawed into to expose a piece of one of the fossils.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostJoe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs holds a piece of the casing for 3 year old Cooper Richards to check the hardness at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science uncasing of the Triceratops fossil that was found in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostMike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science uncases the Triceratops fossil that was found in Thornton. The protective jacket was sawed into to expose the fossil.
Joe Amon, The Denver PostThe Thornton Triceratops in it's casing at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in its protective jacket.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostVolunteer Don Brandborg begins to prepare triceratops fossils as Tamra Beard, from right, Ashlynn, 5, Justin, and Braelynn, 5, watch Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. Brandborg has been a volunteer for 21 years. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostBraelynn, center left, and Ashlynn Beard, center right, both 5, watch as Fossil Preparator Natalie Toth, right, and volunteer Don Brandborg begin to prepare triceratops fossils Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostVolunteer Don Brandborg, left, begins to prepare triceratops fossils as educator Samantha Sands watches Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. Brandborg has been a volunteer for 21 years. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostVolunteer Don Brandborg begins to prepare triceratops fossils Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. Brandborg has been a volunteer for 21 years. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostFossil Preparator Natalie Toth, left, and volunteer Don Brandborg begin to prepare triceratops fossils Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostHelen Moore, 3, looks at recently found dinosaur fossils Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostFossil Preparator Natalie Toth, left, points out which fossils were recently found Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Daniel Brenner, Special to the Denver PostLonetree resident Jane West, 6, watches a video about unearthing triceratops fossils Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. A total of twelve bones were discovered at a Thornton construction site earlier in the week. The bones are 66 million years old and were transported in plaster jackets.
Richard Wicker, Denver Museum of Nature and ScienceSaunders Construction workers excavating for a new fire and police substation in Thornton, Colorado, unearthed a dinosaur fossil on Aug. 25, 2017.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs Joe Sertich, left, chats with Justin Cooper, a Saunders Construction concrete superintendent who was part of the team that discovered triceratops fossils at a construction site in Thornton on Aug. 25, 2017.
Courtesy of the City of ThorntonJoe Sertich, Curator of Dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, carefully brushes away dirt from a triceratops skull. The skull was found by a construction crew working on a new police and fire substation for the city of Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
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Mike Getty, chief preparator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science gives Saunders Construction, inc. founder and chair Dick Saunders a close look after exposing the post orbital horn of the dinosaur fossil that was found in Thornton.
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By Danika Worthington | The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Getting your player ready...
The triceratops recently unearthed in Thornton officially has a name: Tiny.
Students at Brantner Elementary School in Thornton selected the name and it was announced by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to mark National Fossil Day, which is Wednesday.
Provided by Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Joe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, talks to students at Brantner Elementary School in Thornton about the discovery of triceratops fossils at a construction site across the field from their school. Kids from the school came up with the name "Tiny" for the most complete Cretaceous Period fossil discovered in Colorado.The school is located across a field from where the dinosaur was working on the City of Thornton’s new Public Safety building. Museum workers on Sept. 18.
About 80 percent of Tiny’s skull and at least 15 percent of its skeleton were recovered, making it discovered in Colorado. was also found among the fossils.
Museum visitors can watch workers clean Tiny’s fossils in the museum’s paleo lab.
