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Upper and lower jaw fragments from the newly discovered small
dinosaur Falcarius utahensis, with a U.S. one-cent
coin for scale. Note the teeth are leaf-shaped, designed for
shredding plant material, rather than the blade-like, serrated
teeth seen in meat-eating dinosaurs. Paleontologists believe
the dinosaur represents a "missing link" between
earlier carnivorous dinosaurs and later plant-eaters.
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Credit: James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey.
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View of the Crystal Geyser Quarry, an excavation site south
of Green River, Utah, where scientists unearthed the 125 million-year-old
fossils of a previously unknown species of dinosaur, Falcarius
utahensis, which was related to earlier meat-eaters such
as Velociraptor but was on the evolutionary path
toward becoming a plant-eater.
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a high-resolution version
Credit: James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey. |
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Bones from the newly discovered dinosaur Falcarius utahensis
are examined by Lindsay Zanno, a doctoral student in geology
and geophysics at the University of Utah and the Utah Museum
of Natural History.
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Credit: Tom Taylor, Utah Museum of Natural History, University
of Utah.
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Earth's shifting tectonic plates mean the continents were
arranged differently 125 million years ago, when the Atlantic
Ocean basin had not yet opened. Utah's location is shown,
along with an arrow indicating that the similar age of therizinosaur
dinosaurs in China and Utah -- including the newly discovered
Falcarius utahensis -- mean the creatures may have
migrated from Utah through Europe to Asia, or vice versa.
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Credit: James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey, and Chris
Scotese, PaleoMap Project.
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This detailed illustration shows a geologic time scale of
the Late Mesozoic Era -- particularly the Cretaceous Period
and Late Jurassic Period -- as well as Utah rock formations
and selected Utah dinosaurs from those periods, and the arrangements
of Earth's shifting plates over time. The illustration shows
the location in time (125 million years ago) of Utah's Crystal
Geyser Quarry, where scientists have been digging up the fossils
of a new species of dinosaur, Falcarius utahensis.
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Credit: James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey.
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Utah State Paleontologist James Kirkland stands near a full-size
cast of the newly discovered dinosaur Falcarius utahensis.
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Credit: Gaston Design, Inc.
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Lindsay Zanno, a doctoral student at the University of Utah's
Utah Museum of Natural History, observes a sculpture of the
newly discovered dinosaur Falcarius utahensis.
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a high-resolution version
Credit: PaleoForms LLC, Provo, Utah.
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| Media Contacts: |
| James Kirkland, Utah state paleontologist,
Utah Geological Survey |
office (801) 537-3307, home (801) 508-1329,
jameskirkland@utah.gov |
| Lindsay Zanno, doctoral student, Utah Museum of Natural
History, University of Utah |
office (801) 587-9324, cellular (317) 525-3569, home
(801) 521-4103, lzanno@umnh.utah.edu |
| Scott Sampson, chief curator, Utah Museum of Natural
History, University of Utah |
office (801) 585-0561, cellular (801) 550-4280, ssampson@umnh.utah.edu |
| Jo Lynn Campbell, public relations, Utah Geological
Survey |
(801) 537-3305, jolynncampbell@utah.gov
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| Patti Carpenter, public relations, Utah Museum of
Natural History, University of Utah |
office (801) 585-6369, cellular (801) 910-6397, pcarpenter@umnh.utah.edu |
| Lee Siegel, science news specialist, University of
Utah Public Relations |
office (801) 581-8993, cellular (801) 244-5399, leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu |
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