Triceratops fossil unearthed in Colorado

Construction workers in Colorado have unearthed a dinosaur fossil scientists say was there for 66 million years.

The bones and skull of a dinosaur fossil has been discovered in Colorado by construction workers. (AAP)

A dinosaur fossil has been discovered in Colorado by construction workers.

The bones and skull of a triceratops were found last Friday in Thornton at the construction site of a new public safety building.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs Joe Sertich says the find is one of three triceratops skulls found along the Colorado Front Range and has likely been laying there for at least 66 million years.

A horn and shoulder blade has been unearthed so far by crews working to uncover the fossil.

Triceratops had two big horns over its eyes and a smaller nose horn.

Sertich says most fossils found in the Denver area are from the Ice Age roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago and are bones of mammoths and camels.