Overview
- The Corral Bluffs finds in Colorado’s Denver Basin represent the southernmost record of Purgatorius reported so far.
- Researchers interpret the discovery as evidence for a north-to-south dispersal soon after the end-Cretaceous extinction.
- The tiny teeth exhibit a unique combination of features that may indicate a distinct or earlier species, pending more fossils.
- Fine-mesh screen-washing by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science team, with students and volunteers, revealed specimens too small for traditional surface collecting.
- The results are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2026), DOI 10.1080/02724634.2026.2614024.