Governor Josh Stein, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and NC State University Announce Groundbreaking Dinosaur Discovery

Today Governor Josh Stein, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and North Carolina State University announced what is arguably the most important dinosaur discovery of the decade – definitive proof of a new tyrannosaur species coexisting with T. rex, a speedy and agile creature called Nanotyrannus.  

“This is the biggest dinosaur discovery of the decade, and I am proud that it is happening right here in North Carolina,” said Governor Josh Stein. “North Carolina’s public universities and public museums are continuously on the forefront of scientific research and advancement.”

“Being able to watch these discoveries unfold in real time, in a real laboratory, is a remarkable experience for visitors to the Museum of Natural Sciences,” said North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Pamela Cashwell. “It is thanks to Museum Director Denise Young, head of paleontology Lindsay Zanno, their incredible team, and our strong partnership with N.C. State University that we are able to offer these experiences to all North Carolinians.”  

Paleontologists in the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ SECU DinoLab — the world’s only paleontology preparation lab regularly open to the public — have been studying the pair of exquisitely preserved, 67-million-year-old specimens called the “Dueling Dinosaurs” after the museum acquired them in 2020. Now, the lab’s first major research finding is being announced to the public, overturning a widely accepted scientific consensus on tyrannosaurs that had persisted for more than three decades.

The Dueling Dinosaurs fossil contains two dinosaurs preserved together in a potential predator-prey encounter: a Triceratops and what was originally thought to be a juvenile tyrannosaur. They were found buried together in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. That tyrannosaur is now confirmed to be a fully grown Nanotyrannus lancensis – not a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex, as many scientists once believed.

The implications are profound. For decades, paleontologists have used Nanotyrannus fossils to model T. rex growth and behavior. New evidence reveals that those studies were based on two entirely different animals – and that multiple tyrannosaur species inhabited the same ecosystems in the final million years before an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.

Dr. Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the Museum of Natural Sciences and associate research professor at NC State University, and Dr. James Napoli, anatomist at Stony Brook University, co-authored the study appearing today in the scientific journal Nature.  

“This fossil doesn’t just settle the debate. It flips decades of T. rex research on its head,” said Zanno.

Confirmation of the validity of Nanotyrannus means that predator diversity in the last million years of the Cretaceous was much higher than previously thought. It also challenges the idea of a low-diversity ecosystem vulnerable to extinction.

“The best part of this discovery is being able to share it with the world,” said Zanno. “Anyone who wants to see a 100% complete Nanotyrannus can come to the museum, speak directly with the scientific team, and stand next to the real skeleton.”

The Dueling Dinosaurs experience at NCMNS includes two exhibit zones immersing visitors in the age of dinosaurs as well as highlighting the tools and techniques used by today’s paleontologists. At its core, the SECU DinoLab hosts a team of outstanding paleontologists who will be studying these specimens for years to come.

Learn more about the research.