KNN | Science and Discovery | October 25, 2026
A rare, substantially complete fossil skeleton of an ostrich-like dinosaur excavated in southern Utah has reached the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for study, according to an October 23 announcement from the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
A remarkable fossil from the Late Cretaceous
The roughly 75-million-year-old animal belonged to the ornithomimids, a group of toothless, beaked theropods often compared to ostriches because of their long-legged body plan. Museum scientists estimate it measured approximately eight to ten feet in life.
Paleontologists from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Natural History Museum of Utah worked together on the excavation at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. To protect the specimen during removal and transport, the fossil was enclosed in a plaster jacket weighing approximately 5,000 pounds.
Could it be a new species?
Researchers say the specimen may eventually serve as a holotype—the reference specimen used to define a species—if scientific analysis establishes that it represents a species not previously described. That is a possibility under investigation, not a confirmed discovery of a new species.
Why preservation matters
Substantially complete dinosaur skeletons allow scientists to study proportions and anatomical features that isolated bones cannot reveal. The next stage will involve careful preparation, comparison with known ornithomimids and peer-reviewed study.
Source
North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, October 23, 2026.