Dinosaur named by Prof. Thomas Carr makes top dino fossils of New Mexico
A tyrannosaur named by Professor Thomas Carr and his co-author, Thomas Williamson (New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science), made the list of the most significant dinosaur fossils of New Mexico, as published by the Carlsbad Current Argus.
In 2010, Prof. Carr and Mr. Williamson named Bistahieversor sealeyi, a new species of tyrannosaur. The tongue-twisting name translates to “Sealey’s destroyer from the adobe formations,” named for Paul Sealey, a legendary field volunteer for the museum in Albuquerque who has made several important dino discoveries. The tyrannosaur’s name also includes the Navjo word “Bisti,” which refers to the badlands region where Mr. Sealey discovered the fossil.
The species is represented by a nearly complete skull and lower jaws, and a partial skeleton of an adult, and an incomplete skull and skeleton of a juvenile. The adult skull is a highlight of the public galleries of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bistahieversor is important because it is represented by the most complete tyrannosaur fossils from the state, and it is the closest relative of the line of deep-snouted tyrannosaurs that eventually culminated in the monstrous Tyrannosaurus rex. Bistahieversor is the most primitive deep-snouted tyrannosaur currently known; the deep snout evolved after North America was split into western and eastern subcontinents about 100 million years ago. The deep snouts evolved in the west, whereas the eastern tyrannosaurs retained the shallow snout of their ancestral stock.
Prof. Carr is delighted that Bistahieversor was included in the Carlsbad Current Argus’s list of most significant dinosaur fossils of New Mexico. He said, “The adult skull is a crown jewel of the museum’s collection and hopefully the museum will reap the benefit of more visitors thanks to the dino fossil list.”
Sponsoring Department, Office, or Organization:
Carthage Institute of Paleontology
For more information, contact:
Thomas Carr: tcarr@carthage.edu, 262-551-5887