Ancient Fossil Display Extended

Date: October 24, 2010

Colorado National Monument Extends Ancient Fossil Displays Through New Year's Eve, December 31, 2010

Colorado National Monument is pleased to announce that the new fossils currently in the Monument's Visitor Center will remain on display through December 31, 2010 to increase opportunities for the public to see these extraordinary new discoveries.

The three major fossilized foot print discoveries are from the Jurassic Period, include the following and are aged at approximately 150 million years.

· Recovered extremely rare turtle tracks only found in one other track site locality in North America. Discovered in Colorado National Monument in 2005.

· Newly discovered intact 7 inch, three-toed fossilized dinosaur track found on 9-16-2010 in Colorado National Monument.

· Newly discovered lizard track types that have never been found in the Morrison Formation before discovery on 9-22-2010 in Colorado National Monument.

Colorado National Monument's Visitor Center is open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm and is located 4 miles from the west entrance station in Fruita, CO. Special gift items related to the exhibits and other unique merchandise are available in the visitor center bookstore. Please visit the park's website for further information at www.nps.gov/colm or call the visitor center at 970-858-3617 ext. 360.