NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Meet Lori, a tiny dinosaur that may help explain how birds evolved flight

    Press/Media: Research

    Description

    A fluffy, three-foot-long killer found in Wyoming is the oldest known relative of Velociraptor discovered in North America, paleontologists announced today. Named Hesperornithoides miessleri, the ancient animal is also the smallest dinosaur yet found in the state, which until now has been known for fossils of celebrity behemoths such as Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.

    The newly described dinosaur, reported today in the journal PeerJ, specifically comes from a layer of roughly 150-million-year-old rocks called the Morrison Formation, which covers a vast swath of the western U.S. centered on Wyoming and Colorado.

    Period10 Jul 2019

    Media coverage

    1

    Media coverage

    • TitleMeet Lori, a tiny dinosaur that may help explain how birds evolved flight
      Media name/outletNational Geographic
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritoryUnited States
      Date10/07/19
      Description

      A fluffy, three-foot-long killer found in Wyoming is the oldest known relative of Velociraptor discovered in North America, paleontologists announced today. Named Hesperornithoides miessleri, the ancient animal is also the smallest dinosaur yet found in the state, which until now has been known for fossils of celebrity behemoths such as Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.

      The newly described dinosaur, reported today in the journal PeerJ, specifically comes from a layer of roughly 150-million-year-old rocks called the Morrison Formation, which covers a vast swath of the western U.S. centered on Wyoming and Colorado.
      URLhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/07/new-dinosaur-species-velociraptor-cousin-lori-may-upend-flight-evolution-theories/
      PersonsDean Lomax

    Keywords

    • dinosaurs
    • palaeontology
    • evolution of flight