It’s Official! Welcome, Utahceratops

Following up from our “What’s in a Name?” post, today paleontologists at the Utah Museum of Natural History announced the naming of a new species of horned dinosaur — Utahceratops.  Talk about a little local pride, huh?

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll talk more in this blog with the two primary scientists involved in this find, Scott Sampson, who you probably know as “Dr. Scott” on PBS Kids’ Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train, and Mark Loewen, who looks like Hagrid, but isn’t.

But for now, your dino-fans at home can be some of the first kids in the world to be knowledgeable about Utah’s own ceratopsian dinosaur species!  Here are some things to keep you busy:

Watch Scott Sampson’s introduction of Utahceratops and why it is important on the Museum’s YouTube Channel.

Meet Scott Sampson and Mark Loewen at the Utah Museum of Natural History on Thursday, September 23, from 4 – 8 p.m. to get face-to-face with these scientist and the fossils of these amazingly decorated horned dinosaurs.

See our museum theater piece, The Dino Show: Live From Laramidia, featuring a 10-foot-long puppet based upon Utahceratops.  Find out what southern Utah was like when the Utahceratops was living, and what it would be like to walk side-by-side with this young dinosaur.

Can’t do any of these?  Then ask a question of Scott, Mark or the Paleontology team at UMNH Ask a Scientist.

We’ll be talking more about scientific naming and these new species in particular. But for now, to quote my friend Dr. Scott, get outside and make your own discoveries!

–  Janet

Tags: dinosaurs, Mark Loewen, paleontologist, scientist, Scott Sampson, southern utah, Utah Museum of Natural History, Utahceratops