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'Muppetfish' fossil discovered in Colorado

Posted at 3:21 PM, Feb 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-09 17:21:25-05

A new fossil has been discovered in Southern Colorado that's being nicknamed a Muppetfish.

It was found in the Comanche National Grassland in 2013 by Dr. Bruce Schumacher, a paleontologist from the US Forest Service.

The fossil, whose proper genus is Rhinconichthys, was taken to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park for study and exhibit.

After removing the rock and stabilizing the fossil, the Dinosaur Resource Center started, "jokingly referring to it as ‘the Muppetfish’ after its resemblance to the character Beaker."

The Rhinconichthys lived in the seas of the dinosaur era, about 92 million years ago, and consumed plankton on an industrial scale, according to RMDRC.

Officials said only three fossils of Rhinconichthys have ever been found.

The discovery is being published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.

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