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Arkansas Is One Step Closer To Recognizing First State Dinosaur

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — Fayetteville High School senior Cyprus Oruy is working side by side with lawmakers to recognize the Arkansaurus Fridayi as the state...

FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Fayetteville High School senior Cyprus Oruy is working side by side with lawmakers to recognize the Arkansaurus Fridayi as the state's first dinosaur.

With the bill in its final stages of being approved, the research isn't far behind

Arkansas born paleontologist ReBecca Hunt-Foster is no stranger to the rare dinosaur. She has been tracking its history and origin since the early 2000's

"It was something I worked on when I was at the University of Arkansas for my senior project." Hunt-Foster said.

With new advancements in technology Hunt-Foster was able to compare the dinosaurs foot similar fossils globally.  After more than a decade of studying the fossils her research is finally coming full circle. Artists are now able to start drawing what the dinosaur may have looked like.

"There's been a lot more of these dinosaurs found all around the world and so we've been able to study those and compare and compare to the fossils that we have in Arkansas to the fossils that are found globally."

The dinosaurs found were similar, but none were an exact match. Making the ostrich-like dinosaur exclusive to the state. Now that the research is completed it will be sent to scientific journals for approval. Once all the findings are accepted the dinosaur will receive its official name.

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