A team of researchers, including Dr. Anthony Fiorillo, Executive Director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, has identified jawbones from a species of ostrich-like dinosaur in Montana. The discovery was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and sheds light on the distribution of theropod dinosaurs across North America.
Dr. Fiorillo co-authored the paper with Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig, Ryuji Takasaki, Kentaro Chiba, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Mototaka Saneyoshi, and Shinobu Ishigaki. He said, "Discoveries like this not only help us understand how these dinosaurs lived and dispersed across what’s now North America, but they also remind us how much we still have to learn about these ancient animals."
The research focuses on a potential deinocheirid ornithomimosaur found in the Judith River Formation. This formation is known for its extensive paleontological history dating back to the mid-19th century. The newly discovered jawbones measure just under seven inches each and suggest that the dinosaur's skull was nearly a foot long.
Although fragmentary, these bones display unique features that could eventually identify them as a new species of ornithomimosaur. Fossils from this group are well-documented in Asia and North America but are rarer in North America when it comes to large-bodied deinocheirids.
The discovery broadens the known range of these dinosaurs and suggests undiscovered diversity within this group. Dr. Fiorillo highlighted that similar fossils might be present in New Mexico awaiting discovery.
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