Dino discovery on display in Idaho Falls

A first-of-its-kind discovery was made in eastern Idaho, and it’s available for the public to view.

“A lot of people probably don’t know Idaho has dinosaurs. I see websites saying Idaho has no dinosaurs. It always riles me up a little. I wanna say. ‘Yes! We do have dinosaurs!'” said paleontologist L.J. Krumenacker.

Krumenacker proved them wrong while playing hooky in 2006.

“My cell biology class — am I allowed to say it wasn’t exciting?” he said.

He ventured out to the Gray’s Lake area and found the oryctodromeus specimen.

Don’t let the big name fool you. At most 8 feet long from the top of its head to the tip of its tail, the oryctodromeus is considered small for a dinosaur.

“(It’s the) first evidence of a dinosaur ever burrowing and also good evidence of parental care,” said Krumenacker.

Until now, only bits and pieces of the oryctodromeus have been found in eastern Idaho, so no name is big enough to show just how significant this discovery is.

“This is the most complete specimen — one that’s nice and articulated,” he said.

If you don’t feel like pronouncing ” oryctodromeus,” you can call this particular lizard Elise’s dino. Krumenacker named it after his baby girl.

It took Krumenacker years to unearth and learn about the 95-million-year-old dinosaur. He said he won’t stop there.

“There’s a lot to be discovered here,” he said. “There’s a potential for discovery.”

You can see the display starting at 7 p.m. Monday inside the Education Center next to the Museum of Idaho.