Fossils of new dinosaur species found in Texas

Press, 20 December 1988, Page 40

Fossils of new dinosaur species found in Texas

NZPA-Reuter Fort Worth, Texas

The fossilised remains of three dinosaurs, representing a newly-discov-ered species, have been found near Fort Worth by a high-school biology teacher and his seven-year-old son. The find had opened a new branch of the tenontosaurus family, a scientist said. “We knew there was a dinosaur of the tenontosaurus group, but now we have a whole new species,” said Southern Methodist University paleontologist Louis Jacobs, who has been involved in digging out the fossils.

“These animals represent a new kind of creature,” Mr Jacobs said.

The one-tonne, six

metre tenontosaur was a herbivore that scientists say lived 110 million years ago. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, is hoping to make the fossils part of a permanent exhibit. The find was made by Ted Williams and his son Thad last August as they searched for fossils along a creek-bed west of Fort Worth.

Mr Williams said he and his son were walking along looking at rocks when Thad called out that he had found some teeth in the ground. It was a dinosaur jawbone. “I thought it was something important, but I thought it was a mammoth or something,” Mr Williams said.

He called officials at the Fort Worth museum, who at first were reluc-

tant to go to the creek bed to view the fossil.

“We get so many calls from people who find everything from fossils to cowbones,” said museum spokesman Karen Turner. “We took Mr Williams seriously because he is a biology teacher.”

When officials went to the scene, they were shocked to find nearly complete skeletal remains. The bones were contiguous with joints intact, Mr Turner said.

The dinosaur spent most of its time standing erect on two hind legs, like a tyrannosaur. The creature had a thick body and a long, strong tail, which it used as a counterbalance when standing. Its name means “tendon lizard,” which refers to the powerful tendon in its tail, Mr Turner said.