Rare Triassic Fossil Reveals Last Survivor of Ancient Carnivorous Dinosaur Lineage

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 01:05:00 +0200

A damaged fossil skull once dismissed as worthless has turned out to be a groundbreaking discovery in dinosaur evolution. Reexamined and reconstructed by Virginia Tech undergraduate Simba Srivastava, the fossil was identified as a new species of early carnivorous dinosaur, now named *Ptychotherates bucculentus*, meaning 'folded hunter with full cheeks.' The fossil, originally found in 1982 in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, had been stored away for decades until rediscovered by paleontologist Sterling Nesbitt. Using CT scans and 3D printing technology, Srivastava pieced together the crushed bones to reveal a dinosaur that lived near the end of the Triassic period, about 201 million years ago. This small predator possessed an unusually broad braincase and distinctive cheekbones not seen in other early dinosaurs, suggesting unexpected evolutionary diversity among early saurischians. The discovery, published in *Papers in Palaeontology*, shapes new thinking about the end-Triassic extinction, imp