New Mexico paleontologist claims to have uncovered new dinosaur species

A visitor looks at a skeleton of a Triceratops dinosaur at the Christie's auction house in Paris April 14, 2008. A new species of dinosaur recently uncovered in New Mexico lived the end of the Cretaceous period, about 65 million years ago, and is believed to be a plant-eating relative of the triceratops. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

ALBUQERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico paleontologist says he has uncovered a new species of dinosaur after examining fossilized fragments in a museum collection.

Sebastian Dalman works at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science and had questioned the fragments, which were thought to be from a torosaurus, a relative of the triceratops.

Last year, Dalman headed to the site in south-central New Mexico where the bones were originally unearthed to help with two digs. The search turned up more parts of the dinosaur, including pieces of its cranium.

“I put them all together, and based on what we now have, I identified it as a new genus and a new species,” Dalman told the Albuquerque Journal.

Dalman didn’t release more details on what led to his conclusion. He is scheduled to formally announce his findings at a conference in April.

He said it lived at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 65 million years ago, and was a plant-eating relative of the triceratops.

Examining the body parts of creatures and determining their age is part of the “important work we do here at the museum,” Dalman said.

The museum has 78,000 catalogued fossil specimens in its database, most of them from New Mexico, said Tom Williamson, curator of paleontology.