Latest news with #Enigmacursor
CNN
9 hours ago
- Science
- CNN
New dog-sized dinosaur species discovered
Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur — one that was dog-sized and roamed what is now the United States around 150 million years ago alongside familiar dinosaurs like stegosaurus and diplodocus. The Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, as researchers named it, was about the same size as a Labrador retriever, with a tail that made up about half of its length, according to a study published in the Royal Society Open Science on Wednesday. Although many of its bones were unearthed from the Morrison Formation in Colorado in 2021-2022, its skull and parts of its vertebral column were missing, leaving scientists unsure of its precise length. 'These very small plant-eating dinosaurs are pretty rare (to find),' Professor Paul Barrett, a researcher at London's Natural History Museum who co-led the study, told CNN. 'Actually finding a substantially completed skeleton rather than a few bits and pieces of bones is not common and as a result they're fairly poorly known.' The skeleton will be displayed at the Natural History Museum from June 26. This dinosaur was quite 'lightly built' and weighed around the same as a collie, said Barrett. It was a herbivore and would have walked on its long hind legs, which 'suggests it was quite a speedy runner' allowing it to make a 'quick getaway' from predators, Barrett added. He and his colleague, Susannah Maidment, began investigating this specimen after a London art gallery, which was displaying the dinosaur, got in contact with them. They were eventually able to work with the gallery to find a donor who could help bring the skeleton to the museum. The species name honors that donor, Molly Borthwick, while the genus name is Latin for 'mysterious runner.' By carefully examining the bones, Maidment and Barrett concluded that this specimen had unique characteristics unlike any other previously known species. In particular, its thigh bone was particularly distinctive, with different sorts of muscle attachments than other dinosaurs, Barrett said. It is most closely related to Yandusaurus hongheenis, a three-meter- (9.8-foot) long dinosaur that has been found in China. This suggests the species was widely distributed, Barrett said, hypothesizing that other fossils of it simply haven't been found yet. Scientists believe this specimen was not yet fully grown as some of its vertebrae had not yet fused but, because of the way the fossil was prepared before it came to the Natural History Museum, they can't be certain. It is also not clear how the dinosaur died because there aren't any obvious signs of illness or injury in its bones. New species of dinosaurs are unearthed or identified relatively frequently, about once a week, said Barrett. But finding small dinosaurs like this is much rarer, partly because they're overlooked by fossil hunters searching for bigger, more impressive dinosaurs and partly because smaller skeletons are more likely to be ripped apart by predators and scavengers. Finding these smaller dinosaurs which are often left in the ground 'gives us a more complete idea of what those ecosystems were like,' Barrett said.
SBS Australia
a day ago
- Science
- SBS Australia
An Enigmacursor wrapped in a riddle inside a mystery?
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts. TRANSCRIPT: London's Natural History Museum is home to some 80 million natural specimens - and now, it has is one more. Among the museum's impressive dinosaur collection, the skeleton of an Enigmacursor is a relatively small, but significant, new exhibit. "So Enigmacursor is a small plant-eating dinosaur. It walked around on its hind legs, would have been quite a speedy runner. And it's a fairly rare animal from this time and from this part of the world. It comes from the Western USA, from Colorado, and it lived about 150 million years ago and would have be scuttling around the feet of more famous dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Diplodocus." Professor Paul Barratt is a palaeontologist at the museum, whose research helped identify this new dinosaur species. The Enigmacursor roamed the Earth in the late Jurassic period but remained unknown until a remarkably intact skeleton was unearthed from a quarry nearly four years ago. It was initially described as a nanosaurus, a poorly-known species first recorded in the 1870s. Until, that is, the fossil's discovery solved a tantalising mystery. Researcher Professor Susannah Maidment explains: 'Enigma means puzzle, of course, and this is in reference to this sort of complicated naming history of these sorts of dinosaurs. There's been up to eight or nine different names given to these fragmentary, tantalising remains and we couldn't figure it out until we found this nice more complete skeleton, so that's the enigma part. Now cursor means runner so this is in reference for the dinosaur's very long hind limbs and very big feet." As well as powerful legs and huge feet, the Enigmacursor boasts a long swooping tail. At just 64 centimetres tall and 180 centimetres long, it is much smaller than Jurassic giants like the 25-metre long Diplodocus. But Professor Paul Barrett says this small creature could shed light on how its bigger cousins developed. "This little dinosaur fills an evolutionary gap. So it is somewhere in between the origin of the big group that includes things like Stegosaurus and Triceratops and their relatives, and the development of the weird features we see in those groups. So if you like, it's the template on which those weirder, bigger dinosaurs were built. And it helps us to understand how those different features started to come into existence. And it also shows us what these late Jurassic ecosystems were like. They weren't just dominated by huge long-necked dinosaurs or huge predators, but also a cast of characters of smaller dinosaurs that are making a living in different ways." More research is now needed to confirm whether other specimens previously thought to be nanosaurus are also different species. Professor Sarah Maidment says it's very likely. "It tells us that there were actually more of these small dinosaurs than we thought previously, because in our investigations in other US collections and museums, what we discovered was that there are a whole range of little fragments of bones that are different from Enigmacursor, but are from this sort of dinosaur. So we think that the diversity of these sorts of dinosaurs was greater than we previously realised." The dinosaur's full name - Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae - credits the private donor who helped the Museum acquire the fossil. Professor Barrett says new species of dinosaur are being found all the time, but the discovery of a skeleton such as this is rare.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
New dog-sized dinosaur identified after fossil mix-up
(NewsNation) — A new species of dinosaur the size of a Labrador retriever has been identified after scientists managed to untangle a fossil mix-up. Incomplete fossil remains of the newly named enigmacursor mollyborthwickae were initially discovered in modern-day Colorado in 2021-22 but were misclassified by scientists as being the remains of a nanosaurus. In a newly published report, scientists behind the discovery note that the small herbivore was about 3 feet long, with its tail making up about half of its length. Dinosaurs didn't roar like in the movies. Here's how they sounded According to the museum, the name enigmacursor roughly translates to 'puzzle runner' in Latin. Despite its small stature, this two-legged dinosaur had long legs, which allowed it to quickly move away from predators. 'We can speculate that Enigmacursor probably wasn't that old, as it doesn't seem to have many of its neural arches fused in place. However, the way the fossil was prepared before it was acquired by the Natural History Museum has obscured some of these details, so we can't be certain,' Paul Barrett, co-lead author, said. New 2-clawed dinosaur discovered in Mongolia The remains, which date back to roughly 150 million years ago, are now on display at the Natural History Museum in London, marking the museum's first new dinosaur on display since 2014. Unearthed from the Morrison Formation of the Western United States, the dinosaur is said to have roamed the same region as dinosaurs like the stegosaurus and diplodocus. 'While the Morrison Formation has been well-known for a long time, most of the focus has been on searching for the biggest and most impressive dinosaurs,' professor Susannah Maidment, co-lead author of the report, told the museum. 'Engimacusor shows that there's still plenty to discover in even this well-studied region and highlights just how important it is to not take historic assumptions about dinosaurs at face value.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Dog-sized dinosaur fossil that roamed among giants, discovered by scientists
Source: CNN Scientists have uncovered fossils of a new dog-sized dinosaur species that lived alongside some of the largest dinosaurs ever known. This remarkable discovery sheds light on the diversity of prehistoric life and how smaller dinosaurs coexisted with gigantic species millions of years ago. According to The BBC , a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science has identified this new dinosaur species, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, which was roughly the size of a Labrador retriever, with its tail making up half its length. It was originally classified as a Nanosaurus, but scientists now conclude it is a distinct species. The dinosaur is currently on display in the Natural History Museum (NHM) Discovery of a unique dinosaur Source: The BBC The newly identified dinosaur, named Enigmacursor- meaning 'puzzling runner' - was roughly the size of a modern-day dog. It was relatively small, measuring 64 cm in height and 180 cm in length, comparable to a Labrador retriever, but distinguished by its larger feet and long tail. It co-existed with dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and is estimated to have lived 150 million years ago. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo The scientists questioned the classification, so they visited the US to examine the original Nanosaurus specimen. However, they found that the specimen was incomplete, consisting of only a rock with bone impressions, making it impossible to confirm its identity. Coexisting with other giant dinosaurs Source: The BBC Despite its small stature, this dinosaur was a thriving part of the ecosystem, running around the feet of enormous herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs. Its discovery provides new insights into how smaller species adapted to survive alongside massive contemporaries, highlighting a complex prehistoric environment. The discovery of dinosaurs is of great significance for paleontology Source: The BBC The momentous discovery adds to scientists' knowledge of dinosaur diversity, evolution, and behavior. It also challenges the notion that only larger dinosaurs could dominate these ecosystems and provides evidence that smaller species played very important roles. The discovery also continues to provide important data for examining deep-time evolutionary relationships. Also read | Shocking discovery! 230 giant viruses found lurking in Earth's oceans; scientists say
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Enigmatic 'runner' dinosaur from Colorado helps rewrite understanding of several Jurassic species
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A mysterious "runner" dinosaur, only about the size of a dog, scurried around the ancient floodplains of what is now Colorado around 150 million years ago, a new study finds. The two-legged herbivore, named Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, was around 3 feet (1 meter) long and 1.5 feet (0.5 m) tall. However, despite its small stature, the discovery of this dinosaur is having a big impact on scientists' understanding of several Jurassic species. A private fossil company excavated E. mollyborthwickae in Colorado between 2021 and 2022. The skeleton was later put up for sale, advertised as Nanosaurus, which is another type of small dinosaur from the same rock formation — called the Morrison Formation. After the Natural History Museum in London bought the skeleton, researchers found that not only is this new specimen not Nanosaurus, but the scientific classification of Nanosaurus and several other dinosaurs from the Morrison Formation are also unreliable. The Morrison Formation is home to many iconic dinosaur fossils, such as the plated Stegosaurus and the ferocious predator Allosaurus, which would have lived alongside E. mollyborthwickae during the Jurassic period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago). The new study, published Wednesday (June 25) in the journal Royal Society Open Science, highlights that researchers still have a lot to learn about the formation's smaller dinosaurs. "While the Morrison Formation has been well-known for a long time, most of the focus has been on searching for the biggest and most impressive dinosaurs," study co-lead author Susannah Maidment, a senior researcher at the Natural History Museum, said in an article published by the museum. "Smaller dinosaurs are often left behind, meaning there are probably many still in the ground." Related: Meet 'Dragon prince' — the newly discovered T. rex relative that roamed Mongolia 86 million years ago The skeleton was excavated by a company called Dinosaurs of America, LLC and acquired by the David Aaron art gallery in London, before the Natural History Museum purchased the fossils in 2024, according to the study. When the researchers got their hands on the alleged Nanosaurus, they began to look closely at the group, along with other small-bodied Morrison Formation dinosaurs. "Nanosaurus wasn't named based on many fossilised bones, but largely the preserved impressions of bones pressed into hardened sand that are very difficult to study," study co-lead author Paul Barrett, a paleobiologist at the Natural History Museum, said in the museum's article. "So, we turned to the other bones that have been referred to the group over the past century, but these weren't particularly well-preserved either." The fossil record for several small-bodied Morrison Formation dinosaurs is poor and incomplete, and it has undergone several scientific revisions, according to the study. Barrett and Maidment reviewed Nanosaurus and similar Morrison Formation species in a study published April 25 in the journal Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, concluding that by modern standards, none of them had distinct enough features or a unique combination of characteristics to be valid. For the new study, the researchers pored over the so-called Nanosaurus specimen and scanned it so they could create virtual 3D images of its fossilized bones. They determined that a unique combination of features, particularly in its legs, made the animal distinct enough from other dinosaurs. Their analysis found that its closest known relative was Yandusaurus hongheensis, a Jurassic herbivore from China. RELATED STORIES —T. rex may have evolved in North America after all, scientists say —Giant pterosaurs weren't only good at flying, they could walk among dinosaurs too —Dinosaurs might still roam Earth if it weren't for the asteroid, study suggests Barrett and Maidment created a new genus (group) for the specimen. The genus name, Enigmacursor, combines the words "enigma" — a reference to the mysteries surrounding its scientific classification — and "cursor," which means "runner" in Latin. The dinosaur's species name, "mollyborthwickae," honors museum donor Molly Borthwick, whose donation allowed the Natural History Museum to purchase the specimen, according to the study. The museum didn't disclose the cost of the specimen. "By studying its anatomy in detail, we've been able to clarify this species' evolutionary relationships, its taxonomy and the diversity of a previously poorly understood group of small dinosaurs," Maidment said in a statement.
