WOODLAND PARK, Colo. — Experts at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center are confident the bones found by a team in Montana are those of a newly discovered species.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports outside experts will officially confirm whether this is indeed a new species of dinosaur, nicknamed Ava due to its resemblance to the plant-eating Avaceratops. The excavations were done at the fossil-rich Judith River Formation in north-central Montana.
Center Curator Anthony Maltese is a member of the Triebold Paleontology, Inc. field excavation team. The firm has been uncovering the skeleton since 2012.
Maltese says there were enough differences between Ava and the Avaceratops that researchers were sure they’d found something new.
The skeleton was used to make a replica that was unveiled in an exhibit Wednesday at the center in Woodland Park, Colorado.