Since the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences was founded in 1879, it has been expanding the minds of many people, both old and young, teaching them matters of all science within these walls. One of the main scientific programs within this museum is the Paleontology Research Lab. This lab recently discovered a fossil that had been part of the “Dueling Dinosaurs” exhibit in the museum to be a different dinosaur than what scientists previously thought. The museum has been displaying this exhibit since April 27, 2024, and the fossil has been continuously examined by professionals. However, challenging the prior belief, the fossil was not actually a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex, but a new genus, the Nanotyrannus. 

A genus is a group of organisms that have similar characteristics, and although the museum knew that it was a tyrannosaur, they could not be certain that it was this specific species until it was examined further. 

In 1942, a paleontology team from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History went to Montana and found the skull of what they thought came from a theropod. But in 1988, a different team identified the fossil as a Nanotyrannus lancensis. What makes this species so unique is not just that it was a new genus, but that upon its discovery, it created an abundance of new information about the Tyrannosaur species as a whole. Also, since April 27, 2024, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has been in possession of a full skeleton of this species, and they just recently discovered that it was, in fact, the first full skeleton of a Nanotyrannus to date. 

The Paleontology Lab has been hard at work trying to identify this fossil, using hundreds of fossils and comparing them to this new skeleton. This lab, led by Eric Lund, made sure the fossils were preserved correctly and examined without harming the remains. Lund and his team soon realized that the fossils they had were part of the first full fossilized remains of this genus.

“[This is the] first, one hundred percent complete skeleton of any Tyrannosaur, let alone the most complete Tyrannosaur in North America,” Lund said. 

After years of effort and research, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences can proudly say that its endeavor was a success. This leaves the museum not only with a historic discovery, but a discovery that changes the way fossils, especially Tyrannosaurs, are examined and identified in the future. This information gives experts a new view on how the Tyrannosaurs looked and lived, and this viewpoint can further the education of society in regards to paleontology and the life of dinosaurs that lived 66 million years ago. 

Many experts played a role in identifying this dinosaur, but Dr. James Napoli, a research instructor, played a key role in this discovery. Napoli worked alongside paleontologists within the museum to help compare the myriad of tyrannosaur fossils being researched and studied how fossils grow with the development of the tyrannosaur’s features. By looking at the growth records preserved in the bones of the Nanotyrannus, they were able to get an approximation of how old the skeleton was when it died. Napoli worked with the museum staff to provide as much support as possible, getting all hands on deck in regards to identifying this new genus. 

“I am really proud of how much hard work we did to make this discovery – it wasn’t an easy road, and it took us over five years from beginning to end,” Napoli said. “But it was all worth it to make such an important breakthrough in our understanding of dinosaurs.”

This fossil was discovered alongside a Triceratops skeleton, and these are both complete skeletons. This is why the exhibit is called “Dueling Dinosaurs,” because the pair looks as if they were fighting before their untimely deaths. The two dinosaurs give individuals unique insight into life before their extinction. 

Jennifer Anné is the manager of the DinoLab within the museum, and since March 2023, she has helped to keep the lab on schedule throughout this process. Anné and her team have been able to correctly preserve and analyze the history and discovery of these fossils. This important discovery can greatly help people’s understanding of this species of dinosaur.

“This is a genus that has been a topic of contention for over 40 years,” Anné said. “[This discovery] shows that science is always on the search for new information and that we as scientists need to be able to change our views and our hypotheses when new evidence comes to light.”

Many people visit this museum, and it is a museum that not only has fossils displayed, but also a paleontology lab within the building that sets it apart from others in its area. A Chemistry and Marine Ecology teacher at Wakefield, Jesse Kenyon, shares information about dinosaurs and paleontology within his classes, and finds the museum very interesting.

“The really cool thing to me is that even though this is a public museum, where you’ve got tourists coming in all the time, it’s also a working laboratory,” Kenyon said. 

Overall, the Nanotyrannus remains pushed past what scientists were contending for years, and it can now be said, as a fact, that the Nanotyrannus is a true dinosaur. It also allows scientists to consider the information about tyrannosaurs as a species. Moreover, this discovery is one of the most significant in quite some time, and it is taking place right in Raleigh. 

“I think one of the big things is that we have cutting-edge paleontological science happening right here in North Carolina, right here in Raleigh,” Lund said.