New Dinosaur Species Identified in Western Montana

If you've lived in Montana for a while, you're more than likely aware of our history as a treasure trove of dinosaur fossils.  There's now a new entry to that list.

Earlier this year, paleontologists from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman discovered what was believed to be a new species in the Two Medicine Formation in Western Montana, which runs from north of Glacier National Park to the Dearborn River.  Early last month, it was confirmed as a newly-discovered species, now named Brontotholus harmoni.

via GIPHY

Come on, did you really think there would be a mention of a new dinosaur fossil in Montana without a Jurassic Park reference?

So what type of dinosaur is it?

I'm not going to get into taxonomy (kingdom, phylum, class, etc.) here, because that stuff went over my head when I was taking biology in high school and I certainly haven't gotten any better at it since then.

What I do know, courtesy of this announcement from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, is that brontotholus harmoni has been declared a type of pachycephalosaur.  Now, since pachycephalosaur literally means 'thick-headed lizard', guess what distinguishing feature the new species has.  Yup, a nice, thick skull.

The specimen found by the paleontologists measured in at 10 feet long and was dated to roughly 75 million years ago.

What else do we know?

Not much else at the moment.  I haven't found any announcement from the Museum of the Rockies, and the scientific articles mentioned in the MT FWP announcement require credentials I, as a mere radio DJ, do not possess.

Still, I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled, because there's going to be an official announcement at some point.