After 25 years of searching, Colorado paleontology team finds T-rex fossil

The Woodland Park based paleontology team, Triebold Paleontology INC., has recently announced that its crews found a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil during their summer field season, according to a news release.  A representative of the group has stated that the bones were found in South Dakota, though additional details are not available at this time.

The organization's curator, Anthony Maltese, had reportedly been hunting for the ellusive T-rex for 25 years when the discovery was made. During the summer field session, Triebold Paleontology teams reportedly walked over 100 hundred miles, crisscrossing in an area that they had been studying for over a decade. 

"The spot had been scouted several times over the years, but only this year were a few bones beginning to emerge due to erosion, allowing them to be recognized. Following the first few days of serious evaluation, it became apparent to Maltese and Triebold Paleontology founder Mike Triebold that this indeed represented an individual animal and not just portions of an animal deposited in the area by other means such as being washed away in a stream," the release said. 

According to officials, several confirmed T-rex bones were found scattered under soft mud. In total, the team uncovered 15 percent of the dinosaur's full skeleton, but it is possible for more to be found in that area. "

"What has been found is already telling the story of a large juvenile that appears to have been scavenged after death by other predators, including other Tyrannosaurs. In addition to signs of potential cannibalism, there is evidence of several different pathologies—marks of disease, deformity, or previous injuries that show on the bones," the release said. 

"In paleontology it is common for the discoverer to name the specimen, so this little rex has been named “Valerie” after Maltese’s wife, something he jokingly said he’d get in trouble for if he didn’t do it. 'Not Val, though,' he specified, 'Valerie.'"

"Valerie" is currently on display in the lab at the headquarters of Triebold Paleontology Inc., the Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park. 

Members of the public are invited to view the bones and meet the team working on them, on Saturday October 29 from 11 AM to 3 PM. They can also see them anytime through the lab window. 

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