The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences has a new tenant — and it’s 75 million years old.
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An ostrich-like dinosaur specimen arrived in downtown Raleigh on Wednesday, a “remarkably preserved” skeleton that scientists believe could lead to the discovery of a new species.
“This is exactly the kind of fossil paleontologists dream about,” Lindsay Zanno, the museums’ head of paleontology, wrote in a statement. “A beautifully preserved skeleton with the potential to tell us something genuinely new about dinosaur evolution.”
Paleontologists with the museum excavated the skeleton from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, alongside scientists from the Natural History Museum of Utah.
It’s the first “substantially complete skeleton of its kind” to be discovered in the region, according to the North Carolina museum, and was “remarkably preserved.”
Zanno said scientists made the discovery last summer, finding the dinosaur’s leg in sandstone with every bone in place, just as it would have been when the dinosaur was alive. Since then, scientists have found many other well-preserved parts of the dinosaur— including the tail, hind leg and parts of the neck.
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“So we think inside this 5,000 [pound] block of sandstone is a curled up skeleton of what’s probably a new species of theropod dinosaur,” Zanno told The News & Oberver.
While living, the dinosaur is believed to have been about 8 to 10 feet long, beaked, toothless and a very fast runner. Scientists date the species back to the late Cretaceous Epoch following the Jurassic Period.
The specimen arrived Wednesday wrapped in a 5,000 pound plaster jacket to protect it during transport from the field. The dinosaur halted traffic on West Jones Street for several hours as the museum moved the skeleton into its new home, lifting it with an excavator through a window on the side of the building.
But locals haven’t seen the last of this dino. The specimen will be studied in the museum’s SECU DinoLab, where museum visitor’s will have full view to watch paleontologists at work.
“The SECU DinoLab was built around a powerful idea: the public shouldn’t have to wait until the science is finished to be part of discovery,” museum director Denise Young said in a statement. “Bringing new specimens like this one into the lab means North Carolinians can continue to watch world-class science unfold right here in Raleigh.”
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This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 2:23 PM.