A new, more primitive species of dinosaur was discovered at Big Bend National Park this week.
The fossil of the new specials, Aquilarhinus palimentus, was unearthed in the 1980s by Texas Tech University Professor Tom Lehman. But because the bones were so "badly weathered and stuck together," it was not until recently that researchers could analyze it, according to a release from the park.
Earlier research concluded the fossil was related to the Gryposaurus genus, or duck-billed dinosaurs. New research shows the fossil is linked to a more primitive species that is helping researchers draw conclusions about how this species of dinosaurs evolved over time, according to the release.
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"Its existence adds another piece of evidence to the growing hypothesis, still up in the air, that the group began in the southwestern area of the U.S.," lead author Dr. Albert Prieto-Márquez from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, near Barcelona, said in the release.
The discovery leads researchers to believe there could be an even greater number of primitive species than previously recognized, according to the release.
Find more information on the new species in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.
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