Oldest species of horned dinosaurs found in NM

A new type of horned dinosaur, whose 82-million-year-old fossilized remains were found near Cuba in 1993, is believed to be the oldest representative of all the horned dinosaurs that have yet been discovered, said Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The dinosaur has been named Menefeeratops sealeyi, after the Cretaceous rocks of the Menefee Formation, where the fossils were found, and in honor of Paul Sealey, the museum’s research associate who discovered them. The fossils are expected to be put on display in the museum by late summer, Lucas said. The newly named ceratopsid dinosaur, a large rhinoceros-like herbivore, was related to the better known triceratops, but at about 15 feet long was half the size. “There’s a whole group of these horned dinosaurs, and Menefeeratops is basically the most primitive member,” Lucas said Wednesday. “Think of a diagram of an evolutionary tree for the horned dinosaurs, and this one is at the base of that evolutionary tree.” When Menefeeratops voraciously chomped its way through the area more than 80 million years ago, “this was a true greenhouse world, with no icecaps and a very high sea level,” Lucas said. North America was cut in half by an inland sea. The eastern part of what is now New Mexico was under water, and the western part was a hot, wet, tropical jungle. When Menefeeratops voraciously chomped its way through the area more than 80 million years ago, “this was a true greenhouse world, with no icecaps and a very high sea level,” Lucas said. North America was cut in half by an inland sea. The eastern part of what is now New Mexico was under water, and the western part was a hot, wet, tropical jungle.In fact, Lucas said, New Mexico at the time was probably located near the latitude where southern Mexico or northern Central America currently sits...MORE

Qne of the reasons I'm so pleased to be in New Mexico...old dinosaurs have special standing here.