WASHINGTON — Fossils of two previously unknown dinosaur species from North America have been identified, researchers announced Monday.
Scientists speculate the dinosaurs were feathered and lived about 90 million years ago. Their fossils were found in the Zuni Basin in New Mexico.
A team led by Doug Wolfe of the Zuni Basin Paleontological Project has identified a skull and other fossilized bones as belonging to a type of dinosaur known as Coelurosaur, a two-legged meat-eater that stood about 3 feet tall.
The new specimen has not been named and its formal description has not been completed, the researchers said.
The Coelurosaur encompassed a large group of animals that arose early in dinosaur history. Most were 2 to 18 feet tall. Scientists say they were able to run rapidly on two legs to catch and feed on smaller animals.
Jim Kirkland of the Utah Geological Survey and Wolfe also reported finding fossils for a long-necked plant-eater species identified as a Nothronychus. It also stood on two legs and had a shaggy coat. The new specimen has not been named, the researchers said.
Nothronychus is of the therizinosaur type of dinosaurs, a kind of animal not common in North America fossil history, the researchers said. They expect to publish a more precise description of the animal this fall.
Researchers have used fossils to identify about 200 dinosaur genera and about 300 species. Some experts believe that up to a half million individual species lived and died during the age of dinosaurs, which lasted from about 225 million years ago to about 65 million years ago.
