GRAND JUNCTION — A Colorado museum says an 8-year-old boy discovered a rare dinosaur skull during his summer vacation.

      Lachlan Barrett of Florida uncovered the 140-million-year-old skull on the Museums of Western Colorado’s dinosaur dig at the Mygatt-Moore Quarry. Scientists believe it belonged to an apatosaurus louisae, which would make it the fourth such specimen ever found and the only one with vertebrae still attached.

      Julia McHugh, a paleontology curator at the museum, tells The Daily Sentinel that preparing the skull for display is a yearlong process. The top of the head is still encased in rock and only the palate and some teeth roots are visible.

      The museum’s former chief paleontologist, Brooks Britt, says it is unusual to find sauropod skulls because they were fragile and had a tendency to shatter.

-----This article was originally published by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS