In October 2010, a bulldozer operator working near a Colorado ski area uncovered the tusk of a young female mammoth. Over the next ten months, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science conducted its largest-ever fossil excavation, yielding a treasure trove of well-preserved Ice Age fossils. Museum crews uncovered 5,000 bones of 41 kinds of Ice Age animals, including mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths, camels, deer, horses, and giant bison. The preserved series of Ice Age fossil ecosystems is one of the most significant fossil discoveries ever made in Colorado. This discovery at Ziegler Reservoir near Snowmass Village will change forever our understanding of alpine life in the Ice Age. Fairfield and Woods assisted in branding this discovery, the Snowmastodon Project, for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
