In Images: An Apatosaurus Discovery

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Morrison Museum

Morrison Museum front

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

Preparing Kevin

Kevin preparation

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Matthew Mossbrucker demonstrates an airscribe tool used to remove concrete-like sandstone from around the fragile fossil. He and his colleagues have been working on this boulder for two years.

Apatosaurus Illustration

Apatosaur Kevin

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

A whiteboard illustration in the Morrison Natural History Museum's prep lab shows which part of the skull is represented in the rock.

Kevin's Snout

Kevin maxilla and premaxilla

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

The boulder contains snout bones, known as the maxilla and premaxilla, of a Jurassic beast.

Apatosaurus Limb

Apatosuarus forelimb

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

The first Apatosaurus specimens were found in Morrison, just west of Denver. This right forelimb is on display at the Morrison Natural History Museum. It was discovered in 1878. White plaster holds the fragile bone together.

Quarry Five

Quarry 5 on Dinosaur Ridge

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A short drive from the Morrison museum is Quarry 5, where the boulder containing Kevin was found. The boulder had eroded out of the hillside and was sitting at the base of this outcrop.

Quarry Five at Dinosaur Ridge

Quarry 5 on Dinosaur Ridge

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Quarry 5 is maintained by a volunteer group, Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, and is open for tours.

Bones at Quarry 5

Dinosaur bone at Quarry 5

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Dinosaur bones are visible in the sandstone at Quarry 5. Here, Matthew Mossbrucker examines an unidentified limb bone.

Apatosaurus Prep

Apatosaurus sign

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Museum staff are working to prep a surprising fossil find: The first-ever snout of an Apatosaurus ajax, the largest apatosaurus species.

Kevin the Apatosaur

Kevin the apatosaur

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

Dubbed "Kevin," a new apatosaur muzzle is embedded in a sandstone boulder with a jumble of other Jurassic animal remains.

Matthew Mossbrucker and Kevin

Apatosaur Kevin

(Image credit: Stephanie Pappas for LiveScience)

Morrison Natural History Musuem director Matthew Mossbrucker with "Kevin," a new Apatosaurus specimen found near Denver, Colo.

Stephanie Pappas
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.