DENVER (KDVR) — Paleontologists unearthed a fossil in the northwest corner of Colorado and discovered a new mammal that lived when dinosaurs roamed the state millions of years ago.
The team of researchers, led by the University of Colorado Boulder Professor of Geological Sciences Jaelyn Eberle, discovered a piece of jawbone and three molar teeth while working near Rangely, which is about 18 miles from the Utah state line.
A study of their findings was published in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday.
“Colorado is a great place to find fossils, but mammals from this time period tend to be pretty rare,” Eberle said. “So it’s really neat to see this slice of time preserved in Colorado.”
Scientists discover new mammal species in Colorado that gives clues on diversity
John Foster and ReBecca Hunt-Foster, co-authors of the study, have been visiting the area to dig up fossils every summer for some 15 years. Foster saw the fossil, about one inch long, emerge from a slab of sandstone that he collected from the site in 2016, according to a CU Boulder Today article .