swordpress

A “NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN” dinosaur that dates back 150 million years has been revealed – and is now on show in the heart of London.

The speedy creature would’ve dodged 32ft flesh-eating giants and even crocodiles to survive in prehistoric USA, scientists told The Sun.

Natural History MuseumA brand new dinosaur has gone on show at the historic Natural History Museum in London[/caption]

Natural History Museum / Bob NichollsThe speedy creature would’ve darted around prehistoric Colorado, USA[/caption]

Sean KeachAt about a metre long, the dinosaur was the size of a very large dog[/caption]

Officially named Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, the two-legged sprinter is available for free public viewing at the Natural History Museum from Thursday, June 26.

The metre-long creature’s fossilised skeleton is remarkably well-preserved, stretching over a metre long (3.2ft) – and about 50cm (1.6ft) tall.

Visitors will be able to get up close to the early American creature, which lived alongside iconic dinos like Diplodocus and Stegosaurus.

“What we’re dealing with here is a new species of dinosaur that comes from Colorado in the western USA,” said Professor Paul Barrow, of the Natural History Museum, speaking to The Sun at the grand unveiling.

“It was discovered back in 2021 and we were able to acquire it thanks to an amazingly generous private donation, which allowed us to buy it for the museum.”

BACK IN TIME

The dinosaur itself is believed to have not been fully grown.

Normally the upper and lower parts of the creature’s back bones would fuse together as the animal aged.

But they weren’t fully fused together, suggesting that the dino may have been quite young.

And it certainly would’ve been surrounded by dino pals.

“At the time, Colorado would have been a floodplain,” said Professor Susannah Maidment, of the Natural History Museum, speaking to The Sun.

“It would have had a series or rivers coming down from high land to the west, and there would have been dinosaurs all over it.

“Some of the most famous dinosaurs – thinks like Diplodocus and Camarasaurus and Brachiosaurus.

“And so this little dinosaur would have been running around at the feet of those giants.”

GREEN MACHINE

This particular dinosaur was a herbivore, meaning it mostly ate plants.

Natural History MuseumThe remarkably preserved fossilised skeleton was found in a quarry[/caption]

Natural History MuseumScientists have pieced together the fossils to reconstruct the dinosaur[/caption]

But because flowering plants hadn’t evolved yet, Professor Maidment told us, it “would have just been eating things like cycads and ferns”.

The dinosaur didn’t need to move fast to eat – but it did need speedy legs to avoid being eaten.

It lived alongside deadly predators, including prehistoric crocodiles.

“We know it’s a very speedy little dinosaur,” said Professor Paul Barrow.

Natural History MuseumIt was previously thought to be a type of poorly-understood dinosaur called a Nanosaurus[/caption]

Natural History MuseumThe official name for the new dinosaur is the Engimacursor mollyborthwickae[/caption]

“It has very long hind legs – it walks on its hind legs only.

“So its main defence against predators would actually have just been a speedy getaway.

“And it’s living at the same time as quite a lot of other large predatory dinosaurs.

“Probably the most famous of which is a thing called Allosaurus, which is a big carnivore that gets up to about nine or 10 metres (29 to 32ft) in length – it’s quite common at the time.

A timeline of life on Earth

Here’s a brief history of life on our planet

4.6billion years ago – the origin of Earth
3.8billion years ago – first life appears on Earth
2.1billion years ago – lifeforms made up of multiple cells evolve
1.5billion years ago – eukaryotes, which are cells that contain a nucleus inside of their membranes, emerge
550million years ago – first arthropods evolve
530million years ago – first fish appear
470million years ago – first land plants appear
380million years ago – forests emerge on Earth
370million years ago – first amphibians emerge from the water onto land
320million years ago – earliest reptiles evolve
230million years ago – dinosaurs evolve
200million years ago – mammals appear
150million years ago – earliest birds evolve
130million years ago – first flowering plants
100million years ago – earliest bees
55million years ago – hares and rabbits appear
30million years ago – first cats evolve
20million years ago – great apes evolve
7million years ago –first human ancestors appear
2million years ago – Homo erectus appears
300,000 years ago – Homo sapiens evolves
50,000 years ago – Eurasia and Oceania colonised
40,000 years ago – Neandethal extinction

Natural History MuseumThe Sun spoke to Natural History Museum experts Professor Susannah Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett, who discovered the new species[/caption]

“But also a lot of speedy predators as well, and also some big crocodiles that could have taken out this guy.”

DIG IT

The creature was first unearthed in 2021 from a commercial quarry.

And it was thought to be a Nanosaurus, a “poorly-known” species that was first named in 1870s.

The Enigmacursor was acquired from the David Aaron Ltd gallery with support from David and Molly Lowell Borthwick (after whom the dinosaur is now named).

Natural History MuseumThe dinosaur would’ve lived between 145 and 150 million years ago[/caption]

Natural History MuseumIt would’ve lived alongside giants like Diplodocus and Stegosaurus[/caption]

And Natural History Museum scientists renamed it after analysing the specimen, confirming it as a species new to science.

But there is still a mystery: exactly how fast the nippy little creature could run.

“It was a two-legged dinosaur and so it had very small forelimbs actually,” Professor Maidment told us.

“But we don’t really know how fast it would have run at all.

“It probably might have been able to just about outrun us – but probably not much faster than that.”

Natural History MuseumAnalysis of the dinosaur revealed that it belonged to a brand new species[/caption]

Sean KeachVisitors can go to see the dinosaur at the museum for free from Thursday, June 26[/caption]

Natural History MuseumScientists have been able to reconstruct what the dinosaur would’ve looked like based on its fossils[/caption]