Volunteer discovers record-breaking dinosaur bone
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, July 23, 2014, 3:52 PM -
Rabbit Valley's Mygatt-Moore Quarry in western Colorado is home to countless fossils left behind by dinosaurs and ancient sea creatures.
Its most notable recent find was a 6-foot-7-inch-long (2 metres), 2,800-pound apatosaurus femur, unearthed by a volunteer during a dig near the Utah border.
Experts say it is the largest known apatosaurus femur ever discovered.
"It's very exciting," said Dinosaur Journey curator of paleontology Julia McHugh."This is really a once-in-a-lifetime find -- to find the largest bone of a particular animal."
This is a particularly groundbreaking find because it is likely it belonged to a beast 80 to 90 feet long (24 to 27 metres), which Dr. McHugh says is about 15 to 25 feet (4.6 to 7.6 metres) longer than average.
Today we're removing a 6ft, 7in long Apatosaurus femur from Mygatt-Moore quarry.
This is one big bone! Everyone have their OJ this morning?
— Dinosaur Journey (@DinosaurJourney) July 17, 2014
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This is a particularly groundbreaking find because it is likely it belonged to a beast 80 to 90 feet long, which Dr. McHugh says is about 15 to 25 feet longer than average.
A crew of experts led by the Museum of Western Colorado's Dinosaur Journey Museum oversaw the excavation. Workers there are now stabilizing and preserving the bone.
With files from the Grand Junction Free Press and CNN