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Nevada is well-known for its unique and storied history, but its prehistoric inhabitants are only recently coming into focus for paleontologists. At Dino Safari: A Walk Thru Experience at Horseshoe, guests can learn about the state’s oldest residents and catch a glimpse into their primordial world.

Meeting Nevadadromeus

Bones of the Nevadadromeus were first discovered near the Valley of Fire State Park, only 45 minutes from Las Vegas, in 2008 and formally published in 2022. A new genus and species of thescelosaurine, Nevadadromeus was a small, bipedal, plant-eating dinosaur with a beak and long, slender hind legs. It is the only named species of dinosaur from Nevada and its name honors it. The first half of its name references the state, and the second half refers to its long hind legs, making it swift and agile. Small herbivores needed this trait as it allowed them to escape larger dinosaurian predators.

Nevadadromeus fast facts

NAME MEANING: “Nevada Runner”

SIZE: 7 to 10 Feet Long

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: North America (Laurasia)

TIME PERIOD: Late Cretaceous Period, 100 to 94 million years ago

DIET: Herbivore

Other dinosaurs connected to Nevada

While not named for their home state, there are several other dinosaurs that were discovered in or believed to roam Nevada. Here are six of those dinosaurs that are featured at Dino Safari with connections to the Silver State.

Hadrosaur

Like Nevadadromeus, this dinosaur was also discovered in 2008 in the Valley of Fire State Park by a group of UNLV students who had been hiking through. While stopping for lunch, the group noticed a dinosaur skeleton jutting from nearby rocks. The formal name of this dinosaur will be announced soon but is a new type of Hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur that roamed North America in the Late Cretaceous period.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Perhaps the most famous dinosaur to ever exist, its name means “king of the tyrant lizards” and was one of the most ferocious predators the Earth has ever known. Based on finds from adjacent regions, T. rex certainly ranged into Nevada. Its fossils remain elusive but teeth from a much smaller, earlier relative known as a tyrannosauroid have been discovered in the state.

Laellyasaura

Laellyasaura are small herbivorous dinosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, 118 to 110 million years ago. Fossils reveal that similar dinosaurs once claimed the region surrounding Nevada as their home.

Iguanodon

Iguanodon dinosaurs are famed for being one of the first dinosaurs ever discovered and known for their incredible size, spiked thumbs, and large, prehensile fingers used for foraging. The colossal herbivories lived in Europe during the Early Cretaceous period. While not found in Nevada, scraps of fossil bones and teeth show that a similar, thumb-spiked herbivore inhabited the Silver State.

Plateosaurus

New evidence shows that super-sized descendants of prosauropods, known as titanosaurs, once thundered across the Nevada landscape. These giant, bipedal herbivores may have measured 100 feet in length or larger.

Velociraptor

Indigenous Ute and Paiute people were the first to recognize dinosaur fossils from Nevada, including those from small, carnivorous raptors,or raptor-like specimens, that have yet to be scientifically described.

DINO SAFARI: A WALK-THRU ADVENTURE is located at Horseshoe Las Vegas on the lower-level mall. Learn more at dinosafari.com.