Researchers are preparing to excavate the bones of some ancient animals found near Snowmass Village.

Crews from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science plan to start removing the bones Tuesday under an agreement reached with local officials.

A bulldozer operator discovered some rib bones while working on a construction project at Ziegler Reservoir last month. Since then, the museum said that at least one woolly mammoth and at least three mastodons have been found. Several other bones have also been discovered but researchers aren't yet sure what they are....