A new species of carnivorous dinosaur, first unearthed in the early 1990s in Utah, has become the oldest species of allosaurus.
The huge carnivore, presented at the Natural History Museum of Utah, inhabited the alluvial plains of western North America during the Late Jurassic Period, between 157-152 million years ago. The newly named dinosaur Allosaurus jimmadseni, was announced in the open access scientific journal PeerJ.
The species belongs to the allosaurs, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs of two legs of small to large body that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Allosaurus jimmadseni, has several unique features, including a short, narrow skull with low facial ridges that extend from the horns in front of the eyes to the nose and a relatively narrow back of the skull with a flat surface to the bottom of the skull under the eyes The skull was weaker with less overlapping field of vision than its already known younger cousin Allosaurus fragilis.
Allosaurus jimmadseni evolved at least 5 million years before fragilis, and was the most common and superior predator in its ecosystem. It had relatively long legs and tail, and long arms with three sharp claws. The name Allosaurus is translated as “different reptile”, and the second part, jimmadseni, pays tribute to the Utah state paleontologist James H. Madsen Jr.
After an initial description of Othniel C. Marsh in 1877, the allosaurus quickly became the best known Jurassic theropod. The taxonomic composition of the genre has long been a debate in the last 130 years. Paleontologists argue that there are between one and 12 species in the Morrison Formation of North America. This study recognizes only two species: A. fragilis and A. jimmadseni.
“Recognizing a new species of rock dinosaur that has been intensively researched for more than 150 years is an exceptional discovery experience. Allosaurus jimmadseni is a great example of how much more we have to learn about the world of dinosaurs,” said Daniel Chure, retired paleontologist of the Dinosaur National Monument, where the new specimen was found, and co-author of the study.
A new species of carnivorous dinosaur, first unearthed in the early 1990s in Utah, has become the oldest species of allosaurus.
The huge carnivore, presented at the Natural History Museum of Utah, inhabited the alluvial plains of western North America during the Late Jurassic Period, between 157-152 million years ago. The newly named dinosaur Allosaurus jimmadseni, was announced in the open access scientific journal PeerJ.
The species belongs to the allosaurs, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs of two legs of small to large body that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Allosaurus jimmadseni, has several unique features, including a short, narrow skull with low facial ridges that extend from the horns in front of the eyes to the nose and a relatively narrow back of the skull with a flat surface to the bottom of the skull under the eyes The skull was weaker with less overlapping field of vision than its already known younger cousin Allosaurus fragilis.
Allosaurus jimmadseni evolved at least 5 million years before fragilis, and was the most common and superior predator in its ecosystem. It had relatively long legs and tail, and long arms with three sharp claws. The name Allosaurus is translated as “different reptile”, and the second part, jimmadseni, pays tribute to the Utah state paleontologist James H. Madsen Jr.
After an initial description of Othniel C. Marsh in 1877, the allosaurus quickly became the best known Jurassic theropod. The taxonomic composition of the genre has long been a debate in the last 130 years. Paleontologists argue that there are between one and 12 species in the Morrison Formation of North America. This study recognizes only two species: A. fragilis and A. jimmadseni.
“Recognizing a new species of rock dinosaur that has been intensively researched for more than 150 years is an exceptional discovery experience. Allosaurus jimmadseni is a great example of how much more we have to learn about the world of dinosaurs,” said Daniel Chure, retired paleontologist of the Dinosaur National Monument, where the new specimen was found, and co-author of the study.
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