The bones of a small mystery dinosaur unearthed in Colorado have now been moved to London, England. The naming of the bones, which are part of a new species called Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, is part of an ongoing effort to draw more attention to smaller sets of remains.
These fossils were first discovered in the Morrison Formation, a section of the United States that is renowned for providing us with some of the most iconic dinosaur fossils. While previous specimens like the stegosaurus and allosaurus have been discovered here, other, smaller creatures found in the area have often gone overlooked. One of these overlooked sets of remains belongs to the recently described Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae.
One of the reasons for giving this dinosaur an official name and putting it up for observation in London is to help bring attention to other overlooked specimens from this part of the US. While the allosaurus and stegosaurus might be more exciting, they are far from the only dinosaur remains we’ve pulled out of Colorado. Sure, the bigger dinosaur remains are more impressive, but every set of remains we uncover helps us learn more about how the world operated back in ancient times when dinosaurs ruled the world.
A new paper detailing the remains of the mystery dinosaur have been published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. And, as noted above, the dinosaur is now on display to see for yourself at the Earth Hall Mezzanine in London. Based on a breakdown of the new species, researchers believe it existed during the final stages of the Late Jurassic Period, roughly 152 to 145 million years ago.
The look of the mystery dinosaur suggests that it was likely built for speedy, quick encounters where it could slip in and out, using its speed and agility to avoid becoming prey. It had long legs, and was roughly dog-sized, the researchers noted in their paper. Unfortunately, the way that the fossil was secured before being moved to the Natural History Museum in London has made it difficult to tell exactly how old the specimen was when it perished.
Hopefully, future remains of the species will help us learn more about these mysterious dinosaurs and the part they played when they roamed the Earth. Scientists also recently uncovered the remains of another new dinosaur species after it sat in a jar in a museum for several years.
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