New Late Cretaceous Hadrosaur Found in New Mexico

A reconstruction of Jeyawati rugoculus a basal Hadrosaur that lived 80 to 65 million years ago (Image Credit: Lukas Panzarin)

A team of scientists have identified bones unearthed in 1996, as a new species of Hadrosaur that lived between 80 and 65 million years ago.  Publishing their findings in the May edition of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, they have named their find Jeyawati rugoculus.  The name derives from two Zuni Indian words that mean grinding-mouth wrinkle-eye.

According to the researchers, J. rugoculus appears to be basal to the line of hadrosaurs.  Scientists believe that the animal walked mostly on all four legs, but that it could rear up on two legs when the need arose.

The bones are now located at the Arizona Museum of Natural History, where specimens of other dinosaurs uncovered in this region are also located.