The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites members of the news media to hear about the discoveries of fossils of two dinosaurs believed to be new to science. Against incredible odds, researchers working in separate sites, thousands of miles apart in Antarctica recently found what they believe are the fossilized remains of an early plant-eating dinosaur and a meat-eater related to Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Of the two finds-which were made less than a week apart-the plant-eating beast would have lived many millions of years before the carnivore ever existed.

NSF-funded scientists from universities in California, South Dakota, and Illinois, whose research was supported by the U.S. Antarctic Program, will describe the highly unusual circumstances involved in making their finds and the significance of the finds to other dinosaur research.

NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of nearly $6 billion. NSF manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, which coordinates almost all U.S. research on the southernmost continent and in the surrounding oceans.

Participants:
Judd Case, Dean of Science and Professor of Biology, Saint Mary's College of California
James E. Martin, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Museum of Geology, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
William Hammer, Fritiof Fryxell Endowed Chair of Geology, Augustana College, Illinois