Small and speedy dinosaur recognised as a new species

Enigmacursor darted around North America in the Late Jurassic 145-150 million years ago and its skeleton is now on display in London’s Natural History Museum

By Chris Simms

25 June 2025

Illustration of Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a newly recognised dinosaur species

© The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

A newly discovered species of dinosaur is going on display in London’s Natural History Museum.

Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae was a speedy, two-legged herbivore, 64 centimetres tall and 180 cm long that lived about 145 million to 150 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic Period.

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Its reconstructed skeleton will be on display in the museum’s Earth Hall from 26 June, alongside its contemporary, Sophie the Stegosaurus.

Susannah Maidment and Paul Barrett, both palaeontologists at the Natural History Museum, have analysed the Enigmacursor specimen, which was uncovered from the Morrison Formation in the western US in 2021-22.

Back then, it was thought to be a Nanosaurus – a poorly known species of small herbivorous dinosaur. The Enigmacursor fossil isn’t complete, but using the few teeth – which reveal it ate plants – and portions of the neck, backbone, tail, pelvis, limbs and feet, Maidment and Barrett have defined this fossil as a new species, placed it in an evolutionary tree and reconstructed it for display.