UNF professor involved in new dinosaur discovery in Utah

This T-Rex cousin was a feathered vegetarian, scientist says

A University of North Florida professor was among a handful of scientists who discovered the newest member of the dinosaur era in the deserts of southern Utah.

Barry Albright, a paleontologist and UNF professor, first discovered the species –– Nothronychus graffami –– in 2000. After years of digging in rugged Utah, Albright and his colleagues were able to recover a nearly complete specimen of the rare sickle-clawed dinosaur.

The unusual characteristics of the new species were published Wednesday in the British-based biological journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, finally making the find official.

“These are bizarre creatures,” Albright said. “We really started scratching our heads when we got further in. And we started to think, what the heck is this?”

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