Radioactive Dinosaur Bones

Thanks to the Museums of Western Colorado, we have two dinosaur bones in our collection. The museum found radioactivity in the fossils and donated them to ORAU’s Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. Experts at the museum tell us the bones are a partial femur of an Allosaurus. For reference, a three-inch plastic toy Allosaurus is placed next to the bones.

The radioactivity is due to uranium which can accumulate in various types of fossils, e.g., dinosaur bones and tree trunks. This accumulation happens when uranium in the groundwater interacts with the fossil’s porous matrix where a chemically reducing environment causes the uranium to precipitate.

Donated by: Museums of Western Colorado