A New Dinosaur the Size of a Dog Has Been Discovered in Colorado

Our collective fascination with dinosaurs, research into their behaviors and their storied past, and our excitement whenever a new discovery is made is certainly palpable. While it is currently debatable if scientists are attempting to bring back dinosaurs, one thing is certain: another discovery has dinosaur fans excited about the opportunity to be once more connected to a time when dinosaurs roamed the planet.

The latest discovery, it seems, is perhaps the most adorable in recent memory.

What is the new dinosaur species that researchers recently discovered, and why has it energized the dino fan base so enthusiastically? Where are the remains of this dinosaur species, and can fans go to see them?

We answer these questions, and so many more, below. Keep reading to learn all about the latest research into a new dinosaur species and why it may leave you wishing you had a dinosaur companion of your own.

According to research entitled: Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a neornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western USA published in the Royal Society of Open Science, a new dinosaur species has given researchers insight into the Late Jurassic period.

"Although their remains have been known since the 1870s, the small, bipedal ornithischian dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western USA remain poorly known," the report begins.

As CNN Science explains, the new dinosaur species was roughly the size of a dog and was present on the Earth about 150 million years ago in what is today the U.S.

"The Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, as researchers named it, was about the same size as a Labrador retriever, with a tail that made up about half of its length," CNN Science reports. "The skeleton will be displayed at the Natural History Museum from June 26."

According to the Conclusions section of the Royal Society of Open Science report, the partial dinosaur skeleton was unearthed from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation located in Colorado.

Thankfully, the discovery marks "the most complete three-dimensionally preserved small ornithischian from the Morrison Formation and one of the most complete from the Middle–Late Jurassic globally."

“These very small plant-eating dinosaurs are pretty rare (to find),” Professor Paul Barrett, a researcher who co-led the study, said to CNN. “Actually finding a substantially completed skeleton rather than a few bits and pieces of bones is not common, and as a result, they’re fairly poorly known.”

Professor Barrett also explained that the dinosaur weighed about the same weight as a Collie. Furthermore, the dinosaur walked on hind legs, and was a fast runner that enabled the dinosaur to quickly flee from predators.

"It is most closely related to Yandusaurus hongheenis, a three-meter- (9.8-foot) long dinosaur that has been found in China," per CNN. "This suggests the species was widely distributed, Barrett said, hypothesizing that other fossils of it simply haven’t been found yet."

The wide distribution of the dinosaur's fossils makes it extremely exciting to consider just how many roamed the Earth at one point, and if future remains will be discovered in other parts of the world.