Dinosaur Institute Research Studies | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Thin section of the tibia of the Tyrannosaurus rex "Thomas" showing details of the bone tissue microstructure.
Current Research
We are currently studying a new species of an ornithischian dinosaur (lower jaw pictured above). It is the smallest known dinosaur from North America and one of the tiniest dinosaurs ever found.
Fossils in China
The Center for Chinese Fossil Discoveries, a joint venture between the Dinosaur Institute of the and the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Southern California, coordinates research programs focused on Chinese fossil discoveries. Learn More >
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Research Studies
Scientific research is at the core of the Dinosaur Institute. Our staff and research associates–often in collaboration with professionals from other institutions–maintain an active research program. The goal of this research program is to better understand the evolution of a variety of lineages of archosaurs, a large group of reptiles that encompasses the crocodiles, the pterosaurs (flying reptiles), the dinosaurs (birds included), and a diversity of other less familiar forms that lived during the Mesozoic Era. Some of these areas of research are detailed below:
Diversity and Evolution of Extinct Archosaurs
Dinosaur Reproduction and Development
South American Dinosaurs
Origins of Birds and of their Flight
