Crews find T. rex tooth near Thornton triceratops

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photo
Denver Museum of Nature and Science chief fossil preparator Mike Getty unveils a triceratops bone excavated from Thornton, Sept. 8, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)  denver; colorado; kevinjbeaty; denverite; denver museum of nature and science; science; dinosaur; triceratops; fossils;

Denver Museum of Nature and Science chief fossil preparator Mike Getty unveils a triceratops bone excavated from Thornton, Sept. 8, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The triceratops was not the only dinosaur stomping around what would become modern-day Thornton.

Scientists have also found a tooth from a Tyrannosaurs rex that may have been interacting with the triceratops whose fossilized bones recently were discovered in Thornton, as Denver Museum of Nature and Science staff announced on Friday morning.

It’s possible that the T. rex lost the tooth while scavenging the triceratops’ carcass, or perhaps they were fighting — the tyrannosaurus is thought to have been both a predator and a scavenger.

Paleontologists unveiled some of their findings before a large crowd on Friday, sawing off the protective plaster that they had used to encase and transport some of the triceratops bones. If you want to volunteer to work with fossils at the museum, check this out.

Dr. Joseph Sertich, the lead researcher who verified the find in Thornton. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science unveils a triceratops bone, Sept. 8, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)  denver; colorado; kevinjbeaty; denverite; denver museum of nature and science; science; dinosaur; triceratops; fossils;

Dr. Joseph Sertich, the lead researcher who verified the find in Thornton. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The museum’s scientists will be doing more work to unveil the triceratops’ bones, some of which you’ll be able to see inside the museum in the coming months.

The fossilized triceratops is one of the most complete Cretaceous-era dinosaurs ever found in the area.

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