New Dinosaur 'Thunder Thighs' Discovered By OU Professor, International Team

Ed Murray, News 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma – An international team of scientists, including an OU professor and one of his graduate students, have discovered a new dinosaur at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History.

"It's always exciting. It's like telling everybody that you have a new baby," said Dr. Richard Cifelli, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Sam Noble Museum.

Now Dr. Cifelli will be the first to admit his new baby isn't the prettiest thing and it's actually two dinosaurs, a juvenile and an adult. Their resting place was discovered by amateurs and looted before the museum was called in to save what it could. Even then, it took years to realize what they had.

"It's probably taken us 17 years since we were first out in the Utah badlands to right now to see him, and of course, this animal has been sitting around for 100 to 110 million years," Dr. Cifelli said.

It wasn't until 2007 when a British scholar was visiting Norman that it was realized this was, in fact, a new species of dinosaur. Mike Taylor uncovered the never before seen hip bone structure, indicating hyper development of the thigh muscles and Brontonmerus McIntoshi or "Thunder Thighs" was born.

"For English people that are normally very reserved, he was really enthusiastic and excited," said Dr. Cifelli.

The dinosaur is the size of a Columbian mammoth, but with a long neck and a long tail on it.

"The senior author likes the hypothesis that these back legs were very strong for kicking so that it was particularly adapted for self defense so it could ward away predators like the Utah raptor," said Francisco Gasco.

Cifelli said there's every reason to believe there are more good specimens to be had in that Utah quarry including bones that will help scientists learn more about this new dinosaur.

The other exciting aspect of this discovery is the age of the fossils. This find and others like it are showing "long necked" dinosaurs lived 40-50 million years beyond what was previously thought.