Latest news with #NaturalHistoryMuseumofUtah
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Goblin prince': New monstersaur discovered in Utah reveals hidden secrets of Gila monster relatives
Artistic reconstruction of Bolg amondol, depicted raiding an oviraptorosaur dinosaur nest amidst the lush Kaiparowits Formation habitat. (Courtesy of Cullen Townsend/University of Utah) When Hank Woolley, a paleontological researcher who specializes in lizard evolution, opened a jar of bones labeled 'lizard' at the Natural History Museum of Utah, he said his first thought was, 'Oh wow, there's a fragmentary skeleton here.' 'We know very little about large-bodied lizards from the Kaiparowits Formation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, so I knew this was significant right away,' said Woolley, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Dinosaur Institute. With Woolley's expertise, that jar of bones — even though it was collected back in 2005 — helped lead to a new discovery of a 'racoon-sized armored monstersaurian,' a giant relative of the Gila monster, according to an announcement issued last week by the University of Utah. Its name, Bolg amondol, was inspired by a 'goblin prince' villain in J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' universe. Bolg now represents an 'evolutionary lineage that sprouted within a group of large-bodied lizards called monstersaurs that still roam the deserts from which Bolg was recovered,' according to the U. Woolley knew that a new species of monstersaur called for an appropriate name from an 'iconic monster creator': Tolkien, the university said in its release. 'Bolg is a great sounding name. It's a goblin prince from 'The Hobbit,' and I think of these lizards as goblin-like, especially looking at their skulls,' Woolley said. He also used Tolkien's fictional Elvish language Sindarin to craft the species' epithet. 'Amon' means 'mound,' and 'dol' means 'head,' a reference to mound-like osteoderms (or bony deposits that act as a form of armor) found on Bolg's and other monstersaurs' skulls. ''Mound-headed Bolg' would fit right in with the goblins — and it's revealing quite a bit about monstersaurs,' the U. said. The research published June 17 in the journal Royal Society Open Science, led by the Dinosaur Institute in Los Angeles County and the Natural History Museum of Utah, 'reveals hidden treasures awaiting future paleontologists in the bowels of museum fossil collections,' the university said, along with 'the vast potential of paleontological heritage preserved in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and other public lands.' The field collection of the specimens were conducted under paleontological permits issued by the Bureau of Land Management, which also helped fund the study with a National Science Foundation award. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Though the Bolg specimen was first unearthed more than a decade ago, in 2005, Woolley's expertise in lizard paleontology helped determine its significance. He was the lead author of the research. 'Bolg is a great example of the importance of natural history museum collections,' said co-author Randy Irmis, an associate professor at the U. and curator of paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, in the news release. 'Although we knew the specimen was significant when it was discovered back in 2005, it took a specialist in lizard evolution like Hank to truly recognize its scientific importance and take on the task of researching and scientifically describing this new species.' Though museum collection spaces are 'sometimes stereotyped as dusty, forgotten places, the truth is quite the opposite,' the Natural History Museum of Utah said in a post about Bolg last week. The museum's paleontology collection is a 'glorified storage unit. Instead, it's a space where staff, students, volunteers, and visiting researchers can care for fossils and conduct new research.' 'It was this reevaluation of collection specimens,' the museum added, 'that led to Woolley's breakthrough research on Bolg amondol.' Irmis said discovering a new species of lizard that's an ancestor of the modern-day Gila monster is 'pretty cool in and of itself, but what's particularly exciting is what it tells us about the unique 76-million-year-old ecosystem it lived in.' 'The fact that Bolg co-existed with several other large lizard species indicates that this was a stable and productive ecosystem where these animals were taking advantage of a wide variety of prey and different micro-habitats,' Irmis said. Researchers identified the new species from a collection of skull, limbs, vertebrae and bony armor called osteoderms. Most fossil lizards from the dinosaur age 'are even scrappier — often just single, isolated bones or teeth — so despite their fragmentary nature, the parts of Bolg's skeleton that survived contain a stunning amount of information,' the U. said. 'That means more characteristics are available for us to assess and compare to similar-looking lizards,' Woolley said. 'Importantly, we can use those characteristics to understand this animal's evolutionary relationships and test hypotheses about where it fits on the lizard tree of life.' The clade (or ancestral grouping) of anguimorph lizards known as monstersauria are characterized by their large size and distinctive features, like 'sharp, spire-like teeth and pitted, polygonal armor attached to their skulls.' Bolg, the U. said, 'would have been a bit of a monster to our eyes.' 'Three feet tip to tail, maybe even bigger than that, depending on the length of the tail and torso,' Woolley said. 'So, by modern lizard standards they're a very large animal, similar in size to a Savannah monitor lizard; something that you wouldn't want to mess around with.' Monstersauria have a roughly 100-million-year history, but their fossil record is largely incomplete, meaning Bolg's discovery is a 'big deal' to help fully understand the prehistoric lizards and their world, the university said. 'Bolg's closest known relative hails from the other side of the planet in the Gobi Desert of Asia,' the U. said. 'Though dinosaurs have long been known to have traveled between the once-connected continents of the Late Cretaceous Period, Bolg reveals that smaller animals also made the trek, suggesting there were common patterns of biogeography across terrestrial vertebrates during this time.' Bolg was discovered in the rocks of the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument — a formation that has emerged as a paleontological hotspot over the past 25 years, according to the U. Those rocks have produced 'one of the most astounding dinosaur-dominated records in North America,' the university said. 'Discoveries like this underscore the importance of preserving public lands in the Western U.S. for science and research.' Co-author Joe Sertich, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University, said in the release that the 'exceptional record of big lizards' from Grand Staircase-Escalante 'may prove to be a normal part of dinosaur-dominated ecosystems from North America.' He said those lizards appear to have filled 'key roles as smaller predators hunting down eggs and small animals in the forests of Laramidia,' which is an island continent that existed during the Late Cretaceous period. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Time of India
23-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
New armored lizard fossil ‘Bolg' discovered in Utah named after Tolkien's Goblin Prince
Source: Natural History Museum of Utah Every fossil unearthed not only tells a story of ancient life but also reinforces the value of conserving these spaces for future scientific discovery. A remarkable discovery of fossils is being unearthed in Utah. The fossil find hidden in a museum collection has led to the identification of a new species of an ancient lizard inspired by the fantasy world of Tolkien's Goblin Prince, offering fresh insight into the long-lost group of heavily armored reptiles that once roamed prehistoric North America. Researchers stress that protected public lands like Grand Staircase-Escalante aren't just scenic wilderness areas; they are living laboratories that preserve critical records of Earth's history. Ancient lizard fossil named after Tolkien's Goblin Prince unearthed in Utah The newly discovered lizard, named 'Bolg amondol', was about the size of a raccoon and covered in bony, protective armour. The fossil was found in Utah's Kaiparowits Formation, part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and belongs to a group of ancient predators known as monstersaurs — relatives of the venomous Gila monsters that live today. The genus name "Bolg" comes from the goblin prince in The Hobbit, while "amondol," derived from Tolkien's Elvish language, means "mound-headed," referencing the lizard's distinctive skull structure. These adaptations, including sharp teeth and spiked skin, suggest Bolg was a formidable predator in the Late Cretaceous forests around 75 million years ago. From museum shelf to prehistoric spotlight: The hidden lizard unearthed According to the study, the fossil was originally excavated in 2005, it went unnoticed until Dr. Hank Woolley of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County revisited a jar tucked away in a museum drawer. What seemed like an overlooked specimen turned out to be a new species, sparking detailed research into its evolutionary history. The remains, though incomplete, include parts of the skull, vertebrae, limb bones, and dermal armor (osteoderms). Together, they've helped paleontologists better understand this obscure family of lizards, particularly their place in ancient ecosystems dominated by dinosaurs. Co-author Dr. Randy Irmis of the University of Utah emphasized the significance of revisiting older museum specimens. Many important discoveries lie dormant for years until a fresh perspective reveals their importance. Bolg is now one of at least three large predatory lizards known from the region, enriching our understanding of the diversity within ancient food chains. How ancient lizards Like Bolg crossed continents Bolg's closest known relative lived in the Gobi Desert of Asia, hinting at intercontinental migration routes during the Late Cretaceous period. This supports theories that land bridges allowed even smaller reptiles to travel across connected continents, just as some dinosaurs and mammals did. According to Dr. Joe Sertich of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, lizards like Bolg likely played vital ecological roles. Their diet may have included dinosaur eggs, small animals, and carrion, placing them alongside today's monitor lizards in terms of behavior and function. Early-career scientist leads breakthrough fossil discovery The findings were published in Royal Society Open Science and supported by the National Science Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Dinosaur Institute. Lead researcher Dr. Woolley began this work as a PhD student and now continues it as a postdoctoral fellow — a testament to how early-career scientists can make major breakthroughs. Dr. Nathan Smith, a co-author from the Dinosaur Institute, highlighted how institutions like theirs support budding researchers in exploring Earth's deep past. The Kaiparowits Formation is already renowned for its dinosaur fossils, and Bolg adds yet another chapter to its prehistoric legacy. Also Read | Living with an anaconda? Understanding human and snake relationships in the Amazon Várzea
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Goblin Prince': New armored lizard that lived alongside dinosaurs found
A raccoon-sized armored lizard has been identified through the fossilized remains found in Southern Utah. The discovery reveals a surprising diversity of large reptiles thriving right alongside the titans of the Late Cretaceous. The new species has been named Bolg amondol. And yes, if that name sounds familiar, it's inspired by the goblin prince from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." A fitting moniker for a creature that looks like it stepped right out of a fantasy epic. 'Bolg is a great sounding name. It's a goblin prince from 'The Hobbit,' and I think of these lizards as goblin-like, especially looking at their skulls,' Hank Woolley, lead author from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Dinosaur Institute. 'We know very little about large-bodied lizards from the Kaiparowits Formation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, so I knew this was significant right away,' Woolley added. This incredible find wasn't made in the field, but hidden away in a museum drawer for years. 'I opened this jar of bones labeled 'lizard' at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and was like, oh wow, there's a fragmentary skeleton here,' added Woolley. It highlights the vital role natural history museums play in scientific discovery, proving that even fragments can hold a treasure trove of information. Researchers pieced together the story of this ancient lizard from tiny bits of skull, limbs, vertebrae, and those characteristic bony armor plates called osteoderms. Despite having a history spanning approximately 100 million years, their fossil record is notably incomplete. Even though it's fragmentary, these pieces contain enough clues to place Bolg firmly on the lizard family tree. This newly discovered lizard species lived roughly 76 million years ago. Its coexistence with several other large lizard species suggests it was part of a stable and productive ancient ecosystem. Bolg amondol is a member of an ancient lineage called monstersaurs – large, often armored lizards that still have modern-day relatives roaming deserts today, like the Gila monster. The ancient reptile stood at about three feet long from tip to tail. To put its size in perspective, it was comparable to a modern Savannah monitor lizard, making it an animal you wouldn't want to encounter casually. But perhaps one of the most surprising revelations is Bolg's closest known relative, who lives across the globe in Asia's Gobi Desert. It suggests that not just large dinosaurs, but smaller creatures like this lizard also journeyed between these ancient, once-connected continents. It's shedding new light on how life spread across our planet millions of years ago. The Kaiparowits Formation within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument continues to be a paleontological hotspot, yielding an astonishing record of prehistoric life. 'The exceptional record of big lizards from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument may prove to be a normal part of dinosaur-dominated ecosystems from North America, filling key roles as smaller predators hunting down eggs and small animals in the forests of Laramidia,' said co-author Joe Sertich from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University. The findings were published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Bones of a raccoon-sized prehistoric lizard sat in a jar for 20 years
For 20 years, the remains of a giant lizard that lived alongside dinosaurs were tucked away in a jar at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Simply labeled 'lizard,' the fragmented and several millennia-old bones actually belonged to an entirely new species of giant lizard dug up from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah in 2005. Bolg amondol was a raccoon-sized armored mostesaurian lizard that lived about 77 million years ago, similar to today's Gila monsters (Heloderma horridum). It is named after the goblin prince from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and is described in a study published June 17 in the open-access journal Royal Society Open Science. It also serves as another reminder to double check those museum cabinets. The living and fossil lizards in the clade Monstersauria are defined by their large size and distinctive features, including pitted, polygonal armor attached to their skulls and sharp, spire-like teeth. While these lizards have been on Earth for roughly 100 million years, their fossil record is largely incomplete. Finding this new species of Bolg was a step towards understanding more about these lizards–and Bolg would have been quite the formidable monster. 'Three feet tip to tail, maybe even bigger than that, depending on the length of the tail and torso,' said Hank Woolley, a study co-author and paleontologist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles' Dinosaur Institute who found the unsuspecting glass jar. 'So by modern lizard standards, a very large animal, similar in size to a Savannah monitor lizard; something that you wouldn't want to mess around with.' [ Related: Giant lizards could keep flesh-eating maggots off Australia's sheep. ] Finding this new species of monstersaur indicates that there were probably many more kinds of big lizards roaming the Earth during the Late Cretaceous–just before the dinosaurs went extinct. Bolg's closest known relative, Gobiderma pulchrum, once stalked Asia's Gobi Desert. While paleontologists have long known that dinosaurs traveled between the once connected continents during the Late Cretaceous Period, Bolg reveals that smaller animals made similar treks. According to the team, this suggests common patterns of biogeography across land-dwelling vertebrates during this time. The specimens in this study were first uncovered in 2005 in the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This area overseen by the United States Bureau of Land Management has emerged as a paleontological hotspot over the past 25 years, producing dozens of new species. Discoveries like this also underscore the importance of keeping public lands in the United States safe for future scientific research. The team used tiny pieces of the skull, vertebrae, girdles, limbs, and the bony armor called osteoderms to identify this new species. 'What's really interesting about this holotype specimen of Bolg is that it's fragmentary, yes, but we have a broad sample of the skeleton preserved,' Woolley said. 'There's no overlapping bones—there's not two left hip bones or anything like that. So we can be confident that these remains likely belonged to a single individual.' Most of the fossil lizards that lived during the Age of Dinosaurs were even more fragmented. Only single isolated bones or teeth are left over. Even though Bolg was found in pieces, the parts of its skeleton that survived so many millions of years contain a treasure trove of information. 'That means more characteristics are available for us to assess and compared to similar-looking lizards,' said Woolley. 'Importantly, we can use those characteristics to understand this animal's evolutionary relationships and test hypotheses about where it fits on the lizard tree of life.' Paleontologist and co-author Randy Irmis from the University of Utah adds, 'Bolg is a great example of the importance of natural history museum collections. Although we knew the specimen was significant when it was discovered back in 2005, it took a specialist in lizard evolution like Hank to truly recognize its scientific importance, and take on the task of researching and scientifically describing this new species.' Woolley used Sindarin—the language Tolkien created for his elves—to craft the species epithet. 'Amon' means 'mound,' and 'dol' means 'head' in the Elvish language, referencing the mound-like osteoderms found on the skulls of Bolg and other monstersaurs. 'Bolg is a great sounding name. It's a goblin prince from The Hobbit, and I think of these lizards as goblin-like, especially looking at their skulls,' Woolley said in a statement. [ Related: Gila monster spit inspired a new way to detect rare pancreatic tumors. ] Some of the other fossils described in the study include well-armored skull bones. This indicates that the ancient, seasonally tropical forests that once covered present day southern Utah were home to at least three species of large, predatory lizards. This land was once part of a 'lost continent' called Laramidia. Laramidia formed about 99 million years ago, when an ancient shallow sea flooded central North America. The seaway split eastern and western portions of the continent for millions of years. 'Even though these lizards were large, their skeletons are quite rare, with most of their fossil record based on single bones and teeth,' said co-author Joe Sertich from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University. 'The exceptional record of big lizards from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument may prove to be a normal part of dinosaur-dominated ecosystems from North America, filling key roles as smaller predators hunting down eggs and small animals in the forests of Laramidia.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
They're not the prettiest, but they survived 2 extinction events
Garbage in, garbage out. High protein, low fat. Cut the carbs and stay hydrated. It turns out it does matter what you eat, especially to crocodylians — crocodiles, alligators and gharials — a species researchers say persisted despite two mass extinction events because they adapted their diet and the places where they found food. 'Lots of groups closely related to crocodylians were more diverse, more abundant, and exhibited different ecologies, yet they all disappeared except these few generalist crocodylians alive today,' said the lead author Keegan Melstrom. 'Extinction and survivorship are two sides of the same coin. Through all mass extinctions, some groups manage to persist and diversify. What can we learn by studying the deeper evolutionary patterns imparted by these events?' Researchers reconstructed their dietary ecololgy by examining the teeth and skulls of 99 extinct crocodylomorph species and 20 living crocodylian species. The research is the first to reconstruct the dietary ecology of crocodylomorphs to identify characteristics that helped some groups persist and thrive through two mass extinctions — the end-Triassic, about 201.4 million years ago, and the end-Cretaceous, about 66 million years ago. Their study was published in the journal Paleontology on Tuesday. 'Despite being stereotyped as 'living fossils', the characteristics that facilitated their survival remain largely unknown, but trends in other clades, such as mammals, suggest that dietary ecology may play a key role in persisting during and after mass extinctions,' an abstract of the study said. Earth has gone through five mass extinctions in its history — and experts would argue we are undergoing a sixth — so the gritty survival of these toothy animals may provide tools on how to better protect vulnerable species today. Take the gharial, with its long, thin jaws it uses to feed on fish. Populations were once distributed across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. It currently survives in several severely fragmented populations in India and Nepal and is down to less than 250 in numbers. It thrives in big rivers and with its elongated snout and interlocking teeth, adults can quickly snatch a fish. Juveniles munch on insects, crustaceans and frogs. Males can reach up to 20 feet in length, but you don't have to worry about this gigantic creature chasing after you on land because of its weak leg muscles. When it does move across land, think of belly slides. The species is critically endangered, with India granting full protection in the 1970s. Habitat fragmentation, the damming of rivers and hunting are all factors that have this animal on collision course for extinction. Melstrom, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, teamed up with Randy Irmis, curator of paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Utah and a professor in the University of Utah's Department of Geology & Geophysics, to conduct the research probing the dietary ecology of the species that for now have withstood all the tribulations of time. 'We propose that one reason for the success and longevity of the crocodylomorph clade is their remarkable dietary flexibility, a characteristic that is still observed in living crocodylians,' the study says. A clade is a grouping that includes a common ancestor and all the descendants (living and extinct) of that ancestor. The team studied a fossil dataset that spans six continents and 200 million years of evolutionary history. 'Crocodylomorphs have survived two major mass extinctions and may be on the cusp of a third,' the research said, underscoring the need for better conservation practices and using science to help stave off extinction. As an example, the gharials are a keystone species indicating the health of an entire river-based ecosystem. Wildlife SOS says to save the species, you need to save their home. Controlled repopulation efforts have been successful to a degree. In 2024, 160 gharial eggs hatched across the Gandak River in Nepal after intense monitoring by federal officials, scientists and volunteers. The Gandak is a major left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. But ultimately, the key to ensuring the long-term survival of this ancient species lies in restoring balance to the affected ecosystem and, of course, ensuring they stay on the right diet and adapt.
