Suburban Denver fossil re-identified as rarer torosaurus

DENVER – After a month of cleaning and studying what looked like a triceratops’ skull and skeleton, researchers have re-identified the fossil found at a suburban Denver construction site.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science said Tuesday said the fossil turned out to be the rarer torosaurus, a close cousin of the triceratops.

A dinosaur curator at the museum, Joe Sertich, says there are about 2,000 triceratops specimens in the Western United States and only about seven torosaurus fossils. Sertich added that this one is one of the most complete and better preserved than ever found before.

The fossil nicknamed “Tiny” was found Aug. 29 when workers building a public safety building in Thornton discovered a horn.

The museum says the cleaning process is expected to take several more months.