Nature
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Dinosaur Ridge near Morrison, west of Denver, is one of Colorado’s most important fossil and track sites, preserving both Jurassic Morrison Formation fossils and Cretaceous Dakota Formation footprints. In 1877 Arthur Lakes and Henry Beckwith discovered the first dinosaur material ever found in the Morrison Formation there, and excavations begun that year under Othniel Charles Marsh produced the world’s first identified Stegosaurus fossils as well as remains of Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Allosaurus, turtles, and lungfish. The ridge also preserves dinosaur trackways uncovered in 1937, while its exposed rock layers, geology, and ecology have made it a major place for preservation, research, and public interpretation.
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Colorado · United States
