Latest news with #Enigmacursormollyborthwickae
Time of India
6 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
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New dog-sized dinosaur species discovered
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. 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.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Meet Enigmacursor: New dinosaur species unveiled at London's Natural History Museum
It's just 64cm tall - but this newly discovered dinosaur is causing big excitement at the Natural History Museum. The Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae was a nimble, plant-eating dinosaur that roamed western North America around 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period. Despite living among prehistoric heavyweights like Stegosaurus and Diplodocus, this little runner likely darted between their feet. Its fossil was initially misidentified as a "nanosaurus" - a murky name dating back to the 1870s - until closer analysis revealed it as an entirely new species. Named for its puzzling classification history ('Enigma') and its long-legged agility ('cursor'), the Enigmacursor helps bridge a key evolutionary gap between early ornithischians and their larger, weirder relatives like Stegosaurus and Triceratops. A skeleton of the Enigmacursor is now on display at the Natural History Museum, with full research published in Royal Society Open Science. Take a closer look this fascinating dinosaur skeleton in the video player above.
Euronews
25-06-2025
- Science
- Euronews
Meet Enigmacursor: New dinosaur species unveiled in London
It's just 64cm tall - but this newly discovered dinosaur is causing big excitement at the Natural History Museum. The Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae was a nimble, plant-eating dinosaur that roamed western North America around 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period. Despite living among prehistoric heavyweights like Stegosaurus and Diplodocus, this little runner likely darted between their feet. Its fossil was initially misidentified as a "nanosaurus" - a murky name dating back to the 1870s - until closer analysis revealed it as an entirely new species. Named for its puzzling classification history ('Enigma') and its long-legged agility ('cursor'), the Enigmacursor helps bridge a key evolutionary gap between early ornithischians and their larger, weirder relatives like Stegosaurus and Triceratops. A skeleton of the Enigmacursor is now on display at the Natural History Museum, with full research published in Royal Society Open Science. Take a closer look this fascinating dinosaur skeleton in the video player above.
The Irish Sun
24-06-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
Never-before-seen dog-sized dinosaur that dodged 32ft flesh-eating giants and killer crocs found after 150 MILLION years
A "NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN" dinosaur that dates back 150 million years has been revealed – and is now on show in the heart of London. The speedy creature would've dodged 32ft flesh-eating giants and even crocodiles to survive in prehistoric 13 A brand new dinosaur has gone on show at the historic Natural History Museum in London Credit: Natural History Museum 13 The speedy creature would've darted around prehistoric Colorado, USA Credit: Natural History Museum / Bob Nicholls 13 At about a metre long, the dinosaur was the size of a very large dog Credit: Sean Keach Officially named Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae , the two-legged sprinter is available for free public viewing at the Natural History Museum from Thursday, June 26. The metre-long creature's fossilised skeleton is remarkably well-preserved, stretching over a metre long (3.2ft) – and about 50cm (1.6ft) tall. Visitors will be able to get up close to the early American creature, which lived alongside iconic dinos like Diplodocus and Stegosaurus. "What we're dealing with here is a new species of dinosaur that comes from Colorado in the western USA," said Professor Paul Barrow, of the Natural History Museum, speaking to The Sun at the grand unveiling. Read more on dinosaurs "It was discovered back in 2021 and we were able to acquire it thanks to an amazingly generous private donation, which allowed us to buy it for the museum." BACK IN TIME The dinosaur itself is believed to have not been fully grown. Normally the upper and lower parts of the creature's back bones would fuse together as the animal aged. But they weren't fully fused together, suggesting that the dino may have been quite young. Most read in Science And it certainly would've been surrounded by "At the time, Colorado would have been a floodplain," said Professor Susannah Maidment, of the Natural History Museum, speaking to The Sun. Walking With Dinosaurs: Official Trailer, BBC "It would have had a series or rivers coming down from high land to the west, and there would have been dinosaurs all over it. "Some of the most famous dinosaurs – thinks like Diplodocus and Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus. "And so this little dinosaur would have been running around at the feet of those giants." GREEN MACHINE This particular dinosaur was a herbivore, meaning it mostly ate plants. 13 The remarkably preserved fossilised skeleton was found in a quarry Credit: Natural History Museum 13 Scientists have pieced together the fossils to reconstruct the dinosaur Credit: Natural History Museum But because flowering plants hadn't evolved yet, Professor Maidment told us, it "would have just been eating things like cycads and ferns". The dinosaur didn't need to move fast to eat – but it did need speedy legs to avoid being eaten. It lived alongside deadly predators, including "We know it's a very speedy little dinosaur," said Professor Paul Barrow. 13 It was previously thought to be a type of poorly-understood dinosaur called a Nanosaurus Credit: Natural History Museum 13 The official name for the new dinosaur is the Engimacursor mollyborthwickae Credit: Natural History Museum "It has very long hind legs – it walks on its hind legs only. "So its main defence against predators would actually have just been a speedy getaway. "And it's living at the same time as quite a lot of other large predatory dinosaurs. "Probably the most famous of which is a thing called 29 to 32ft ) in length – it's quite common at the time. A timeline of life on Earth Here's a brief history of life on our planet 4.6billion years ago – the origin of Earth 3.8billion years ago – first life appears on Earth 2.1billion years ago – lifeforms made up of multiple cells evolve 1.5billion years ago – eukaryotes, which are cells that contain a nucleus inside of their membranes, emerge 550million years ago – first arthropods evolve 530million years ago – first fish appear 470million years ago – first land plants appear 380million years ago – forests emerge on Earth 370million years ago – first amphibians emerge from the water onto land 320million years ago – earliest reptiles evolve 230million years ago – dinosaurs evolve 200million years ago – mammals appear 150million years ago – earliest birds evolve 130million years ago – first flowering plants 100million years ago – earliest bees 55million years ago – hares and rabbits appear 30million years ago – first cats evolve 20million years ago – great apes evolve 7million years ago –first human ancestors appear 2million years ago – Homo erectus appears 300,000 years ago – Homo sapiens evolves 50,000 years ago – Eurasia and Oceania colonised 40,000 years ago – Neandethal extinction 13 The Sun spoke to Natural History Museum experts Professor Susannah Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett, who discovered the new species Credit: Natural History Museum "But also a lot of speedy predators as well, and also some big crocodiles that could have taken out this guy." DIG IT The creature was first unearthed in 2021 from a commercial quarry. And it was thought to be a Nanosaurus, a "poorly-known" species that was first named in 1870s. The Enigmacursor was acquired from the David Aaron Ltd gallery with support from David and Molly Lowell Borthwick (after whom the dinosaur is now named). 13 The dinosaur would've lived between 145 and 150 million years ago Credit: Natural History Museum 13 It would've lived alongside giants like Diplodocus and Stegosaurus Credit: Natural History Museum And Natural History Museum scientists renamed it after analysing the specimen, confirming it as a species new to science. But there is still a mystery: exactly how fast the nippy little creature could run. "It was a two-legged dinosaur and so it had very small forelimbs actually," Professor Maidment told us. "But we don't really know how fast it would have run at all. "It probably might have been able to just about outrun us – but probably not much faster than that." 13 Analysis of the dinosaur revealed that it belonged to a brand new species Credit: Natural History Museum 13 Visitors can go to see the dinosaur at the museum for free from Thursday, June 26 Credit: Sean Keach 13 Scientists have been able to reconstruct what the dinosaur would've looked like based on its fossils Credit: Natural History Museum
