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‘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.
