Scientists discovered a new species of dinosaur that was related to the infamous Velociraptor and had a killer sense of smell.
The creature was previously believed to belong to already known Saurornitholestes langstoni, species, but an analysis of an ancient skull fragment revealed it was its very own species, the University of Pennsylvania reported. The newly distinguished dinosaur was dubbed Saurornitholestes sullivani.
To make their findings a team of researchers performed a comparative analysis the specimen to other S. langstoni fossils. They noticed subtle differences between the specimens, including the fact that the surface of the skull linked with the brain's olfactory bulb was unusually large in S. sullivani.
"This feature means that Saurornitholestes sullivani had a relatively better sense of smell than other dromaeosaurid dinosaurs, including Velociraptor, Dromaeosaurus, and Bambiraptor," said Steven Jasinski, a doctoral student in the School of Arts & Sciences Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Penn and acting curator of paleontology and geology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania. "This keen olfaction may have made S. sullivani an intimidating predator as well."
S. sullivani walked the western shores of North America (which was then split into two continents) during the Late Cretaceous. It lived among other dinosaurs, such as the duck-billed hadrosaurs Parasaurolophus tubicen and Kritosaurus navajovius, and the horned dinosaur Pentaceratops sternbergii. The fearsome dinosaur was about six feet long, which is relatively small. It's physique suggests it was capable of impressive speed and agility, and may have hunted in packs using its sensitive sense of smell.
"Although it was not large, this was not a dinosaur you would want to mess with," Jasinski concluded.
The findings were published this month in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.
