Tiny bone found by UW-Madison paleontologists shows dinosaurs could have been around millions of years earlier than previously thought

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58)– A newly described dinosaur whose fossils were uncovered by University of Wisconsin–Madison paleontologists changes what scientists previously thought about the creatures who roamed the earth millions of years ago.

Dave Lovelace, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, co-led the work with graduate student Aaron Kufner.

Their team has been analyzing the fossil remains since they were first discovered in 2013 in present-day Wyoming, an area that was near the equator on Laurasia. The creature, named Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, is now the oldest known Laurasian dinosaur, and with fossils estimated to be around 230 million years old.

The bone itself is smaller than the size of a human finger.

“This little fossil, it does answer a pretty big question,” Lovelace said, adding this discovery opens up a whole new understanding of the lands where dinosaurs once roamed. “We’re going to go investigate all over the world, I'm sure to find more of these animals and to try to better understand their early evolution.”

“It is very cool to have something like this attributed to our lab,” Kufner said.

UW–Madison scientists and their research partners detail their discovery Jan. 8, 2025, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. You can read more about their findings here.