A UC Merced college student Harrison Duran just made the discovery of his lifetime. While Harrison has been obsessed with dinosaurs since childhood, he never expected to unearth a 65-million-year Triceratops skull on a recent dig in North Dakota. Harrison is a fifth-year biology student with an emphasis in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Merced. He uncovered the skull during a palaeontology dig in the Badlands of North Dakota. 5000-Year-Old Human Skeleton Excavated in Kutch, Archaeologists Find New Burial Site of Harappan Civilization (Watch Video)

Duran in the university's news release says, "I can't quite express my excitement at that moment when we uncovered the skull. I've been obsessed with dinosaurs since I was a kid, so it was a pretty big deal." Duran went for the dig with fellow "bone digger" Michael Kjelland who is an experienced excavator and biology professor at Mayville State University in North Dakota. Ichthyosaur, The 145-Million-Year-Old Fossil Uncovered From Kutch Becomes Subject of Debate Between Students and Delhi Scientists.

Left- Harrison Duran poses with Triceratops skull during a palaeontology dig in North Dakota. Right- Michael Kjelland poses with the skull after treating it with foil and plaster for protection. (Photo Credits: MERCED)

Michael who had found a Triceratops skull in the area last year, was only expecting plant fossils this time. The duo couldn't believe that they had come across the partial skull of a 65-million-year-old Triceratops! The skull has been playfully dubbed as Alice the Triceratops, after the owner of the land. She was found among plant fossils from the Cretaceous period. Duran said, "It is wonderful that we found fossilized wood and tree leaves right around, and even under, the skull. It gives us a more complete picture of the environment at the time."

It took a week to excavate Alice's skull before it was transported to Michael's lab. The plan is to use the skull for educational purposes, however, its location remains a secret. Michael was quoted as saying, "My vision is to have Alice rotate locations. The goal is to use this find as an educational opportunity, not just reserve Alice in a private collection somewhere so only a handful of people can see her." Harrison hopes that Alice can travel to his campus. He said, "It's such a rare opportunity to showcase something like this, and I'd like to share it with the campus community."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2019 10:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).