Remains of previously undiscovered dinosaur species found in Alabama creek (al.com)

By Adam Ganucheau | aganucheau@al.com
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on January 26, 2016 at 2:21 PM, updated January 27, 2016 at 6:34 AM

A new genus and species of dinosaur was named earlier this month after skeletal remains were discovered in an Alabama creek.

Remains of the world's newest known dinosaur, Eotrochodon orientalis, were discovered in a creekbank in Montgomery County in 2007. The roughly 83 million-year-old skeleton is 12-13 feet long and is on display at McWane Science Center in Birminhgam.

Earlier this month, after years of excavation and research, the dinosaur was named by the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, effectively legitimizing the discovery and making history in the state of Alabama and the United States.

"This is like a Mona Lisa here," said Jun Ebersole, the director of collections at McWane Science Center and one of the paleontologists who studied the bones. "More people have been struck by lightning than have named new dinosaurs. There's probably 900 or less dinosaurs, and most of them were named a couple hundred years ago. It's just unbelievably rare."

For about two years, scientists at McWane Science Center and the University of West Alabama carefully cleaned and separated the bones from the surrounding rock. Then a team of researchers – Ebersole, Albert Prieto-Marquez of the University of Bristol in England and Greg Erickson of Florida State University – studied the creature for months.
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more (including slideshow and video): http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/new_dinosaur_species_discovere.html