NM Museum of Natural History & Science researchers identify new bird-like dinosaur species in northwest New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM – Paleontologists from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science have identified a new genus of two-legged dinosaur that lived in New Mexico more than 70 million years ago.

“This new work illustrates the dynamic nature of dinosaur studies as we continue to test what we think we know,” said New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) Executive Director Dr. Anthony Fiorillo. “Furthermore, it demonstrates that New Mexico clearly has a prominent place in those global conversations.”

In a paper recently published in the journal Fossil Studies, Dr. Jasinski and museum Research Associate Dr. Robert Sullivan identified a new species of dinosaur as Dinevenator robustus. Dinevenator was a troodontid, a family of two-legged, bird-like, omnivorous dinosaurs. These theropods are known for having unusually large brains relative to other dinosaurs.

Subscribe to the Daily Las Cruces Digest

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name *How would you like to be addressed in personalized emails?

/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things – do not remove this or risk form bot signups */

“This really helps us get a clearer picture of the diversity in this family of dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous in North America, and it adds to our knowledge of dinosaurs that once roamed New Mexico,” said NMMNHS Paleontology Curator Dr. Steven E. Jasinski.

Dinevenator roamed New Mexico 73 million years ago and lived alongside other dinosaurs like the famous crested duck-billed dinosaur Parasaurolophus tubicen, as well as armored ankylosaurs, horned ceratopsids, dome-headed pachycephalosaurs, swift dromaeosaurids and giant tyrannosaurs, on a sub-tropical floodplain. Little fossil material from Dinevenator has been uncovered, but based on data from related species, scientists estimate this bipedal theropod would have been approximately 8 to 10 feet in body length and weighed between 150 to 300 pounds, making it one of the larger troodontids known.

The bone that inspired the study was originally unearthed in the summer of 2005, when Sullivan came across part of the skull of a small theropod dinosaur in the De-na-zin Member of the Kirtland Formation while collecting Cretaceous fossils in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico. First thought to be a dromaeosaur, a dinosaur closely related to Velociraptor, it was later determined to be from a similar group of dinosaurs known as troodontids. Recently, work on several other troodontid dinosaurs, including Albertavenator from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta and Xenovenator from the Late Cretaceous of northern Mexico, led to the new study on the De-na-zin troodontid. The bone is currently at the State Museum of Pennsylvania but plans are being made to transfer this specimen to NMMNHS. 

This discovery not only adds to the tally of dinosaur species discovered in New Mexico, but it also helps researchers better understand the biodiversity within the troodontid family. While Dinevenator robustus is only known from a single frontal bone on the top of the skull, it is unique among these dinosaurs. This bone is thicker than in many other similar dinosaurs and has other features that show it was distinct.

For more information about the museum’s paleontology research, visit nmnaturalhistory.org. The full study is available here.

About the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Trustees of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation, through the generous support of donors. Established in 1986, the mission of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is to preserve and interpret the distinctive natural and scientific heritage of our state through extraordinary collections, research, exhibits, and programs designed to ignite a passion for lifelong learning. The NMMNHS offers exhibitions, programs, and workshops in Geoscience, including Paleontology and Mineralogy, Bioscience, and Space Science. It is the Southwest’s largest repository for fossils and includes a Planetarium and a large format 3D DynaTheater.