For the first time in about 75 million years, Ava is standing again.
She's a fossil skeleton of a ceratopsian dinosaur species that's so newly discovered, it doesn’t have a name yet. She was found in Montana but was reassembled and put on display by a team of Colorado-based paleontologists.
"Normally these kind of specimens are unveiled in New York or Los Angeles. this is kind of a Colorado thing. We found it in Montana but we've done most of the work here in Colorado, and this is kind of our local hero," fossil preparer Jacob Jett said.
Approximately 80 percent of Ava's skeleton was found by Triebold Paleontology, Inc., which is headquartered at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park.
"When you find a new dinosaur it's one more piece in the puzzle to try to figure out what was going on at that time," owner Mike Triebold said.
"Practically every missing portion was represented by its match from the other side, enabling precise restoration through digital mirror-imaging of 3D models," Triebold Paleontology explained in a news release.
Ava's skull had already been on exhibit, but Wednesday was the first time the fully-restored and assembled skeleton was put on display.
See more: Photos from the exhibit
