Two dinosaur fossils found in Royal Gorge area by a citizen

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) -- A citizen stumbled across an exciting fossil discovery in the Royals Gorge region.

According to the Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center, a citizen found a tibia and fibula of a longneck sauropod dinosaur. That find was reported to the Bureau of Land Management Royal Gorge.

From there, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS), BLM, and the Museum & History Center sent out an excavation team to carefully extract the fossils.

These two newly unearthed fossils offer an opportunity to show an up-close look at how dinosaur fossils are prepared and preserved.

On Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10 a.m., the Museum & History Center will present the fossils to the public with a grand fossil reveal. Volunteers with the Western Interior Paleontological Society (WIPS) along with museum paleo-volunteers will begin working on preparing and preserving the fossils in the museum's Program Room over the next several weeks.

This begins on Jan. 21 and will happen every Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

During this preserving process, the public can watch trained volunteers opening the casts, discover more about the fossils, and learn what all of us can do to protect and preserve 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 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, call the museum at (719) 269-9036. People can also send an email to historycenter@canoncity.org.