RTD Press Release

While preparing the area just west of Sixth Avenue and Simms Street for retaining wall construction, Denver Transit Construction Group, the construction contractor for the RTD West Corridor, and the Colorado Department of Transportation unearthed what appeared to be plant fossils.

Representatives from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science were brought in to explore the area and found fossil leaves in rock layers deposited between 64 and 66 million years ago. These layers grew during the early Paleocene epoch, just after dinosaur extinction. In this time of Earth’s history, mammals were just beginning to dominate the landscape.

The fossil leaves were from ancient palm trees, ferns and flowering plants deposited on a river bank and then buried with sand and mud, which eventually turned to stone. There were also some fossilized tree stumps found in the same area.

“One of the truly incredible things about our area is that we can collect fossils that have a Denver street address,” said Dr. Ian Miller, curator of paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. “Museum visitors find it amazing that discoveries like this happen right here under the footprint of the city. From a scientific perspective, this discovery adds to our knowledge about the evolution of life and the events that took place at the end of the time of the dinosaurs, their extinction and then radiation of the mammals following that extinction.”

Miller was assisted on the dig on Friday and Saturday by several volunteers from the museum’s Paleontology Certification Program.

While in some instances, historical finds like this could delay a construction project, there will be no delay in the West Corridor construction schedule. Since none of the fossils were new species, the museum was able to gather quality specimens within a few days.