Graduate students Sterling Nesbitt, Alan Turner, Nate Smith and Randy Irmis carry a newly discovered fossil that has been wrapped in plaster, prior to shipment to a museum from Ghost Ranch.
Credit: Bill Reeve
Image size: 8.2Mb

The fibulae (lower leg bones) from three, separate Tawa hallae show the differences in skeleton sizes.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Image size: 1.3Mb

Fleshed-out reconstruction of the head of the newly discovered Triassic, carnivorous dinosaur, Tawa hallae.
Credit: © Jorge Gonzalez
Image size: 9.2Mb

Dinosaurs originated in what is now South America, and soon after diverged into ornithischians (like Triceratops), sauropodomorphs (like Apatasaurus) and theropods (like Herrerasaurs, Tawa, and Tyrannosaurus rex), before dispersing across the Triassic world more than 220 million years ago.
Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
Image size: 799Kb

This illustration depicts the complete Tawa hallae skeleton.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Image size: 602Kb

The evolutionary relationships between Tawa (top left) and two other Triassic carnivorous dinosaurs, Herrerasaurus (bottom left) and Coelophysis (right), surround a depiction of the Late Triassic globe in the lower right corner.
Credit: © Jorge Gonzalez
Image size: 5.3Mb

A fleshed-out reconstruction shows the newly discovered Triassic, carnivorous dinosaur, Tawa hallae.
Credit: © Jorge Gonzalez
Image size: 1.3Mb

Ghost Ranch contains fossil-rich, Late Triassic beds.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
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Paleontologists Nathan Smith (left) and Sterling Nesbitt (right) dig for fossils at the Ghost Ranch dig site in New Mexico.
Credit: David Clark, Dinosaur Hunters LLC
Image size: 1.1Mb

The complete right hand of Tawa hallae shows the excellent preservation of the Tawa fossils.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Image size: 1.1Mb

Researchers Sterling Nesbitt, Nathan Smith, Alan Turner, and Randall Irmis were filmed for the NSF-supported IMAX film "Dinosaurs Alive!" The scene above was captured soon after the paleontologists wrapped a block of sediment containing Tawa hallae fossils in preparation for transport to the American Museum of Natural History.
Credit: David Clark, Dinosaur Hunters LLC
Image size: 4.3Mb

The 2006 Ghost Ranch Triassic Project field crew included (from left to right) Kevin Padian, Sterling Nesbitt, Alan Turner, Nate Smith, Randy Irmis, Amy Balanoff, and Gabe Bever.
Credit: Nathan Smith, Field Museum of Natural History
Image size: 1.7Mb

The 2008 Ghost Ranch Triassic Project field crew was photographed in front of the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology at Ghost Ranch. Seen from left to right are Nate Smith, Randy Irmis, Sterling Nesbitt, Alex Downs, Alan Turner, Sarah Werning, and Michelle Stocker. Not seen in the photograph is co-author Mark Norell.
Credit: Nathan Smith, Field Museum of Natural History
Image size: 1.3Mb

The IMAX camera crew films the fossil site.
Credit: David Clark, Dinosaur Hunters LLC

Michelle Stocker and Sterling Nesbitt excavate specimens from the Hayden Quarry.
Credit: Sarah Werning
Image size: 2.2Mb

The jaws of Tawa hallae awaiting removal from their host rock.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Image size: 1.6Mb

The Tawa hallae fossils include this lower jaw bone, the type specimen for the animal’s dental structure.
Credit: Sterling Nesbitt
Image size: 643Kb

This skeleton of Apatosaurus (formerly called Brontosaurus) lives in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History.
Credit: © B. Blackwell, AMNH
Image size: 184Kb

For additional downloadable images, please visit the "Dinosaurs Alive!" IMAX movie website.