New dinosaur species found in Utah

A new species of dinosaur has emerged from the rocks of southern Utah. Buried by a collapsing sand dune, perhaps 185 million years ago, the new dino was probably a plant eater and an early relative of the giant animals later known as sauropods, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of the journal PloS One. Named Seitaad ruessi, the species was 10-to-15 feet long and 3-to-4 feet high. It's bones were found protruding from sandstone at the base of a cliff, directly below an ancient Anasazi cliff dwelling. No humans were around at the time of the dinosaurs, but researchers say the bones could well have been visible when the early Indians lived there. The name Seitaad comes from the word "Seit'aad," which was a sand monster that buried its victims in dunes in Navajo legend, according to the researchers. The newly named skeleton had been swallowed by a sand dune. So, might visible dinosaur remains have given rise to the ancient Indian monster legend? "That's a lot of speculation, but anything's possible," said Mark Loewen, a paleontologist at the Utah Museum of Natural History and instructor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah.