A team of researchers found remains of a small dinosaur in the Judith River Formation in Montana in 2012 and experts from the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center said they are confident that the bones belong to a previously undiscovered species.
When crews from the Triebold Paleontology Inc. discovered the bones of the small, triceratops-like dinosaur, the fossils were an almost complete set. Scientists were also surprised to find that there were some mummified soft tissues that survived around the ancient animal's hip area.
Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center curator Anthony Maltese said that when digging up dinosaurs, only about half of the skeleton often counts as good but in the case of the late Cretaceous Ceratopsian, 85 percent of the animal was considered spectacular.
The researchers likewise found teeth that resemble that of a Tyrannosaurus although they do not believe that the newly discovered prehistoric reptile was a scavenger.
The dinosaur measured four feet tall and 11.5 feet long and is believed to have roamed the Earth 75 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. She is likely 3 or 4 years old when she died.
For three years, scientists reconstructed the form of the dinosaur, which they nicknamed Ava because of is resemblance to the plant-eating Avaceratops.
Using laser scanning and 3D printing in order to fill in the missing parts of the animal, the researchers were able to come up with a replica of the animal for display.
Scientists said that they were lucky to have found almost 200 bones of the new dinosaur but completing its image and bringing it into a real-life replica could have taken over three years without a 3D printer.
Maltese explained that it would have taken between five and 10 years to restore a skeleton such as Ava's at a normal museum, which means that the three years it took to reconstruct Ava was a record time.
Scientists said the 3D printer proved to be an indispensable tool since without it, there would likely have more human errors.
"In the old days, what we would do is, we would take a bone, look at it, and sculpt it in a mirror image basically," Maltese said.
The replica of Ava was unveiled in an exhibit on Wednesday and will be on display at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado until Oct. 9.
Photo: Triebold Paleontology, Inc.
