Latest news with #Enigmacursor
Evening Standard
an hour ago
- Science
- Evening Standard
Labrador-sized dinosaur to go on display at London's Natural History Museum after scientists discover it's a new species
'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.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- Science
- BBC News
Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae: New species of dog-sized dinosaur discovered
Experts have discovered a new small species of has been named Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, and scientists say it lived around 150 million years ago, during the late Jurassic roamed around what is now North America, running around the feet of famous giants like the will now become the first new dinosaur to go on display at London's Natural History Museum in more than ten years. What did experts discover about the new dinosaur? The small dinosaur was found in America's Morrison Formation, in the western United States - which has previously produced some of the world's most famous dinosaurs, including the Stegosaurus and it was first discovered, it was wrongly categorised as a Nanosaurus but scientists have now worked out it is a different new name, Enigmacursor, means 'puzzling runner' - and palaeontologists think it was the size of a labrador to experts, it stood 64 cm tall and 180 cm long but with much bigger feet and a tail that was "probably longer than the rest of the dinosaur." The fossilised remains are the most complete of any in the world for early small big dinosaur bones have been the biggest prize, so there has been less interest in digging out smaller hope that this new discovery could help them understand the diversity of dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic period. Professor Susannah Maidment, from the Natural History Museum, said the new species could be the first of many small dinosaurs to be found in western USA."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."She added: "Smaller dinosaurs are often left behind, meaning there are probably many still in the ground."Enigmacursor shows that there's still plenty to discover in even this well-studied region."The new dino will now go on permanent display at London's Natural History Museum.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Dog-sized dinosaur that ran around feet of giants discovered
A labrador-sized dinosaur was wrongly categorised when it was found and is actually a new species, scientists have discovered. Its new name is Enigmacursor - meaning puzzling runner - and it lived about 150 million years ago, running around the feet of famous giants like the Stegosaurus. It was originally classified as a Nanosaurus but scientists now conclude it is a different animal. On Thursday it will become the first new dinosaur to go on display at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London since 2014. BBC News went behind the scenes to see the dinosaur before it will be revealed to the public. The discovery promises to shed light on the evolutionary history that saw early small dinosaurs become very large and "bizarre" animals, according to Professor Paul Barrett, a palaeontologist at the museum. When we visit, the designer of a special glass display case for the Enigmacursor is making last-minute checks. The dinosaur's new home is a balcony in the museum's impressive Earth Hall. Below it is Steph the Stegosaurus who also lived in the Morrison Formation in the Western United States. Enigmacursor is tiny by comparison. At 64 cm tall and 180 cm long it is about the height of a labrador, but with much bigger feet and a tail that was "probably longer than the rest of the dinosaur," says Professor Susanna Maidment. "It also had a relatively small head, so it was probably not the brightest," she adds, adding that it was probably a teenager when it died. With the fossilised remains of its bones in their hands, conservators Lu Allington-Jones and Kieran Miles expertly assemble the skeleton on to a metal frame. "I don't want to damage it at this stage before its revealed to everybody," says Ms Allington-Jones, head of conservation. "Here you can see the solid dense hips showing you it was a fast-running dinosaur. But the front arms are much smaller and off the ground - perhaps it used them to shovel plants in its mouth with hands," says Mr Miles. It was clues in the bones that led scientists at NHM to conclude the creature was a new species. "When we're trying to identify if something is a new species, we're looking for small differences with all of the other closely-related dinosaurs. The leg bones are really important in this one," says Prof Maidment, holding the right hind limb of the Enigmacursor. When the dinosaur was donated to the museum it was named Nanosaurus, like many other small dinosaurs named since the 1870s. But the scientists suspected that categorisation was false. To find out more, they travelled to the United States with scans of the skeleton and detailed photographs to see the original Nanosaurus that is considered the archtype specimen. "But it didn't have any bones. It's just a rock with some impressions of bone in it. It could be any number of dinosaurs," Professor Maidment said. In contrast, the NHM's specimen was a sophisticated and near-to-complete skeleton with unique features including its leg bones. Untangling this mystery around the names and categorisation is essential, the palaeontologists say. "It's absolutely foundational to our work to understand how many species we actually have. If we've got that wrong, everything else falls apart," says Prof Maidment. The scientists have now formally erased the whole category of Nanosaurus. They believe that other small dinosaur specimens from this period are probably also distinct species. The discovery should help the scientists understand the diversity of dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic period. Smaller dinosaurs are "very close to the origins of the large groups of dinosaurs that become much more prominent later on," says Prof Barrett. "Specimens like this help fill in some of those gaps in our knowledge, showing us how those changes occur gradually over time," he adds. Looking at these early creatures helps them identify "the pressures that finally led to the evolution of their more bizarre, gigantic descendants," says Prof Barrett. The scientists are excited to have such a rare complete skeleton of a small dinosaur. Traditionally, big dinosaur bones have been the biggest prize, so there has been less interest in digging out smaller fossils. "When you're looking for those very big dinosaurs, sometimes it's easy to overlook the smaller ones living alongside them. But now I hope people will keep their eyes close to the ground looking for these little ones," says Prof Barrett. The findings about Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae are published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Scottish Sun
11 hours ago
- Science
- Scottish Sun
Never-before-seen dog-sized dinosaur that dodged 32ft flesh-eating giants and killer crocs found after 150 MILLION years
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) 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 USA, scientists told The Sun. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 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 QUACKERS! First bird to roam Earth after dinosaurs were killed by asteroid revealed "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. And it certainly would've been surrounded by dino pals. "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 prehistoric crocodiles. "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 Allosaurus, which is a big carnivore that gets up to about nine or 10 metres (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
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Science
- BBC News
Natural History Museum to display rare dog-sized dinosaur
A labrador-sized dinosaur was wrongly categorised when it was found and is actually a new species, scientists have new name is Enigmacursor - meaning puzzling runner - and it lived about 150 million years ago, running around the feet of famous giants like the was originally classified as a Nanosaurus but scientists now conclude it is a different Thursday it will become the first new dinosaur to go on display at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London since 2014. BBC News went behind the scenes to see the dinosaur before it will be revealed to the discovery promises to shed light on the evolutionary history that saw early small dinosaurs become very large and "bizarre" animals, according to Professor Paul Barrett, a palaeontologist at the we visit, the designer of a special glass display case for the Enigmacursor is making last-minute dinosaur's new home is a balcony in the museum's impressive Earth Hall. Below it is Steph the Stegosaurus who also lived in the Morrison Formation in the Western United is tiny by comparison. At 64 cm tall and 180 cm long it is about the height of a labrador, but with much bigger feet and a tail that was "probably longer than the rest of the dinosaur," says Professor Susanna Maidment. "It also had a relatively small head, so it was probably not the brightest," she adds, adding that it was probably a teenager when it the fossilised remains of its bones in their hands, conservators Lu Allington-Jones and Kieran Miles expertly assemble the skeleton on to a metal frame."I don't want to damage it at this stage before its revealed to everybody," says Ms Allington-Jones, head of conservation. "Here you can see the solid dense hips showing you it was a fast-running dinosaur. But the front arms are much smaller and off the ground - perhaps it used them to shovel plants in its mouth with hands," says Mr was clues in the bones that led scientists at NHM to conclude the creature was a new species."When we're trying to identify if something is a new species, we're looking for small differences with all of the other closely-related dinosaurs. The leg bones are really important in this one," says Prof Maidment, holding the right hind limb of the the dinosaur was donated to the museum it was named Nanosaurus, like many other small dinosaurs named since the the scientists suspected that categorisation was find out more, they travelled to the United States with scans of the skeleton and detailed photographs to see the original Nanosaurus that is considered the archtype specimen."But it didn't have any bones. It's just a rock with some impressions of bone in it. It could be any number of dinosaurs," Professor Maidment said. In contrast, the NHM's specimen was a sophisticated and near-to-complete skeleton with unique features including its leg this mystery around the names and categorisation is essential, the palaeontologists say."It's absolutely foundational to our work to understand how many species we actually have. If we've got that wrong, everything else falls apart," says Prof scientists have now formally erased the whole category of Nanosaurus. They believe that other small dinosaur specimens from this period are probably also distinct discovery should help the scientists understand the diversity of dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic dinosaurs are "very close to the origins of the large groups of dinosaurs that become much more prominent later on," says Prof Barrett."Specimens like this help fill in some of those gaps in our knowledge, showing us how those changes occur gradually over time," he at these early creatures helps them identify "the pressures that finally led to the evolution of their more bizarre, gigantic descendants," says Prof Barrett. The scientists are excited to have such a rare complete skeleton of a small big dinosaur bones have been the biggest prize, so there has been less interest in digging out smaller fossils."When you're looking for those very big dinosaurs, sometimes it's easy to overlook the smaller ones living alongside them. But now I hope people will keep their eyes close to the ground looking for these little ones," says Prof findings about Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae are published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
