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A Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History volunteer spent hundreds of hours scraping off pieces of rock to finally discover a whole new species of reptile.
Already in 2010, a researcher from the museum noticed this piece of stone. He saw two pieces of bone, a fossil, but had no idea what animal it was. It turned out to be a particularly well-preserved skeleton of a reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs, around 150 million years ago. The research then continued with a bucket of new technologies.
The 16-centimetre-long animal may resemble the lizards we know today, but the newly discovered species – Opisthia mimus gregori, named after the hardworking volunteer – is not related to the lizard.
It belongs to the order Sphenodontia, a species that separated from the lizard 230 million years ago. This also explains why he exhibits unusual features, such as teeth stuck in his jaw and a chewing motion in which the lower jaw slides back and forth like a saw.
Only in New Zealand can you still find relatives of the animal. And it is remarkable. For why did snakes and lizards continue to exist everywhere, but not this animal? The researchers hope that this study will bring the answer to that question a little closer.
Read more: Smithsonian Researchers Discover Extinct Prehistoric Reptile That Lived Among Dinosaurs.
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