DENVER — A new exhibit called “Teen Rex” opened Friday at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, showcasing a baby Tyrannosaurus rex found in the North Dakota wilderness by three children.
Brothers Jessyn and Liam Fisher and their cousin, Kayden Madsen, made the discovery about two years ago.
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Jessin Fisher, Liam Fisher, and Cayden Madsen, the original fossil discoverers.
“When we got to the dinosaur area, we knew right away it was a dinosaur,” said Jaesin, 12. “Hey, that’s a dinosaur. It looks like a leg bone, and we found a dinosaur.”
Once Jessin and Liam’s father, Sam, realized he had found a genuine fossil, he sent a photo to his friend, Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
“I knew they wanted to find a dinosaur,” Ms Lyson said, “so when he sent me this photo of his youngest son Liam lying next to what was undoubtedly a dinosaur’s foot I was really touched. I felt really happy for Sam and really happy for his family.”
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Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science;
When Lyson first saw the photos he thought the family had found a duck-billed dinosaur fossil – an intriguing story nonetheless, quite a common one in the area – and it wasn’t until the museum took over the excavation that the fossil’s true form became clear.
“We dug and brushed and dug and brushed and brushed and we unearthed the lower jaw of a T-Rex with all these huge teeth sticking out,” Lyson said. “It was just pure joy. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”
“The emotion of discovery is like no other,” said Natalie Toth, the museum’s head fossil analyst, who was involved in the excavation. “There’s nothing else that can compare to it. It’s so exciting to be able to share that moment with young people like the boys who found the fossils and see it all through their eyes.”
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Natalie Toth was one of the scientists who worked with the boys on the excavation.
The children shared a commonality with the prehistoric predators, and the fact that the animals were juveniles is a major scientific discovery.
“We’re trying to better understand how dinosaurs grew and matured throughout their lives,” Toth says, “and to do that we need fossils of dinosaurs at all stages of their development.”
They couldn’t dig up the entire skeleton in the field — they had to move the fossils to a controlled environment to keep them safe — so they excavated the surrounding area and lifted it in a helicopter to fly it to the museum.
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The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is promoting a new exhibit.
Excavation continues in the new exhibit, where visitors can watch scientists unearth fossils in real time and watch films about ancient animal discoveries in the museum’s theater.
“It’s so amazing that we had a film crew capturing this event,” Lyson said. “I can’t wait to see the documentary and see the kids’ reactions as they see themselves on the big screen and relive this moment of discovery.”
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