Newly Discovered Carnivorous Dinosaur Was a Keen Sniffer, Researchers Say

Researchers have found a new species of carnivorous dinosaur in the New Mexico wilderness that had a powerful sense of smell, according to a new study.

The predator measured six feet in length, the study added. The newly discovered dinosaur lived 75 million years ago, making it one of the last dinosaurs to roam the Earth.

Researchers have named the new dinosaur as Saurornitholestes sullivani, meaning "lizard bird thief."

Researchers noted that the size of its olfactory bulb, which suggested that it had more advanced nose than its relatives.

"This keen olfaction may have made S. sullivani an intimidating predator," Steven Jasinski, a doctoral student in Penn's Department of Earth and Environmental Science, said in a statement. "Although it was not large, this was not a dinosaur you would want to mess with."

"This find helps show us ... that these dinosaurs to the south are different from those up north. They look differently and act differently," Jasinski told Motherboard. "It helps us know that many areas that have been skimmed over in the past are more unique than we have thought, and that there are many other new and interesting discoveries still out there left to make."

The study[PDF] was conducted by the researchers at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.