Denver Museum of Nature & Science

• Scientists Add Camel to List of Ice Age Animals
• Museum Crews to Return in May
• Museum Unveils Mastodon Specimens at the Capitol
• The Paleontology Certification Program
• Crews Pull More Than 100 Bones From Dig Site
• Ice Age Site Yields Five Mastodon Pelvises, Plus Two Tusks, Two Skulls
• Bone Count Reaches 546 at Ice Age Dig Site
• Museum Uncovers Mastodons of all Ages
• Today marks halfway point in seven-week dig
• National Geographic Follows Ice Age Dig
• Team Finds Evidence of Ice Age Horse
• Museum Finds Record Number of Fossils at Ice Age Site
• 27 Experts Dig into Science, Bone Count Tops 4,000
• Ice Age Site Yields 4,517 Bones from 20 Different Animals
• Museum Concludes Ice Age Fossil Excavation
• Science Updates and Landscape Paintings of the Dig Site
• Giant Bison on Display
• National Geographic and NOVA feature Ice Age fossil find in early 2012
• Museum Announces Plans for Digging Snowmastodon Book
• Snowmastodon Science Continues

National Geographic and NOVA feature Ice Age fossil find in early 2012

In early 2012 both National Geographic magazine and PBS member stations will feature the Ice Age fossil find near Snowmass Village. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is planning a related program and currently offering visitors the opportunity to learn more online and onsite.  

"We are thrilled with the level of interest in this important project," said Dr. Kirk Johnson, the leader of the Snowmastodon Project™ excavation team and vice president of the Research and Collections Division at the Museum. "The involvement of these esteemed organizations helps us share this discovery with an incredible number of people."

National Geographic Magazine - February 2012
A short illustrated article about the fossil find will appear in the February 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine, available on newsstands Tuesday, January 31.

NOVA on Rocky Mountain PBS - February 1, 2012
"Ice Age Death Trap," a one-hour NOVA-National Geographic program about the fossil find, will premiere on Rocky Mountain PBS Wednesday, February 1. The television special follows scientists as they race against time to uncover this unique site packed with astonishingly well-preserved bones of mammoths, mastodons, and other giant extinct beasts, opening a vivid window into the vanished world of the Ice Age. They unearth evidence that entire families of mastodons died as they grazed beside an ancient lake. Patiently, clue by clue, the team reconstructs a macabre scenario in which the soil beside the lake liquefies, then hardens, swiftly trapping entire mastodon families. Unable to move, the mighty tusked beasts slowly starve to death. Featuring ingenious scientific work and spectacular fossils, "Ice Age Death Trap" reveals intimate secrets of the life and death of North America's most exotic and extreme creatures. 

Program at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science - January 26, 2012
The Museum is presenting a related event, "NOVA Sneak Peek: Ice Age Death Trap," at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 26. Scientists Kirk Johnson and Ian Miller will host an evening to celebrate the NOVA-National Geographic program. Guests will be the first to view excerpts from the program, hear behind-the-scenes stories from the dig site, and get the latest scientific updates. Tickets will go on sale beginning Thursday, January 12.