Curator spends 25 years searching for T-Rex fossil — then gives it a special name

A curator in Colorado has spent his entire fossil-hunting career looking for a T-Rex.

Anthony Maltese of Triebold Paleontology Inc. was finishing up his last day of a late July expedition in the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota, when he found what he had been looking for for 25 years, according to an email from Maltese and a press release by Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center.

After walking 100 miles on his trip and “crisscrossing a ranch,” Maltese and his team uncovered the fossil bones “scattered under soft mud,” according to the resource center.

The team had worked their way through the area on past trips, but due to erosion some of the bones were beginning to appear, according to the release. After seeing resurfaced bones, the team declared the area a “dig site worthy of complete and thorough paleontological excavation and documentation.”

“Following the first few days of serious evaluation, it became apparent to Maltese and Triebold Paleontology founder Mike Triebold that this indeed represented an individual animal and not just portions of an animal deposited in the area by other means such as being washed away in a stream,” the release said.

The paleontologists were able to uncover signs of disease, deformity, previous injury and signs of cannibalism on the bones, according to the release.

“What has been found is already telling the story of a large juvenile that appears to have been scavenged after death by other predators, including other Tyrannosaurs,” the release said.

Uncovering all the pieces, however, proved tedious.

“At this time, roughly 15% has been found, but more may still be waiting under the dirt,” the release said.

As the founder of the bones, Maltese was able to give the fossil a name.

In honor of his wife, he named the discovery “Valerie,” for fear that he’d get in trouble with her if he didn’t.

“Not Val, though,” Maltese specified, according to the release, “Valerie.”

Valerie will be displayed at the lab of Triebold Paleontology Inc. headquarters at the Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado, according to the release.

Maltese will be hosting a talk about the fossil on Oct. 26.

For anyone who wants to go see the fossil, it will be open for public viewing on Oct. 29.

This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Curator spends 25 years searching for T-Rex fossil — then gives it a special name."