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Raleigh, Wake County

Raleigh: Museum moves a 75-million-year-old dinosaur into its public lab

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences brought a 5,000-pound fossil block to the SECU DinoLab on Wednesday. Researchers say it might be a new species. That is not confirmed.

ConfirmedThe main facts are confirmed by official or first-hand sources.

By Triangle Local Newsroom · Published

Downtown Raleigh buildings under a blue sky

File photo: James Willamor (CC BY-SA 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

What we know

Confirmed

  • The City of Raleigh, as quoted by WRAL, said W. Jones Street between Wilmington Street and Salisbury Street would be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, while the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences moved a 75-million-year-old dinosaur into the SECU DinoLab.Confirmed by City of Raleigh, as reported by WRAL, Oct. 21, 2026
  • WRAL, citing the city, said the fossil would travel in a protective "jacket" that looks like a large white cast, and that the move was expected around 11 a.m.Confirmed by WRAL, Oct. 21, 2026
  • Axios, WRAL and CBS17 all reported Wednesday that the block weighs about 5,000 pounds and that visitors will be able to watch preparation work in the public lab.Confirmed by Axios; WRAL; CBS17, Oct. 21, 2026
  • The museum, as quoted by WRAL, said the skeleton resembles an ostrich and that the specimen is the first major fossil to enter the lab since the Dueling Dinosaurs.Confirmed by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, as reported by WRAL
  • Lindsay Zanno, the museum's head of paleontology, said in a statement quoted by Axios that the fossil is "a beautifully preserved skeleton with the potential to tell us something genuinely new about dinosaur evolution."Confirmed by Lindsay Zanno statement, as reported by Axios, Oct. 21, 2026
  • WRAL quoted Zanno saying the animal would have been about 8 to 10 feet long, a fast runner with a toothless beak and feathers.Confirmed by WRAL interview with Lindsay Zanno, Oct. 21, 2026
  • Axios reported that the fossil comes from the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah. Lab manager Eric Lund told that newsroom the team had previously found only parts of this type of dinosaur in the formation and that this is the first time they have had the whole animal.Confirmed by Axios interview with Eric Lund, Oct. 21, 2026
  • Museum communications director Kerry Irish told Axios that if the animal is a new species, the Raleigh specimen would be the holotype. That identification has not been made.Confirmed by Axios interview with Kerry Irish, Oct. 21, 2026
  • Museum director Denise Young, in a Wednesday statement quoted by Axios, said the open lab was built so the public would not have to wait until the science was finished. Axios noted that the museum is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.Confirmed by Denise Young statement, as reported by Axios, Oct. 21, 2026
  • The museum's Dueling Dinosaurs page lists downtown hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and the street address 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh. Axios gave the same hours for the SECU DinoLab and said admission is free.Confirmed by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Dueling Dinosaurs page; Axios

Alleged or reported

  • The skeleton belongs to a new dinosaur species.museum researchers, as reported by Axios, WRAL and CBS17. No formal species description has been published

Still unknown

  • Whether researchers will later name a new species
  • How long preparation will take
  • A public catalog number or formal scientific name for this specimen

What this means for you

Instructions from North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

This site is not the museum. For hours and the Dueling Dinosaurs lab, use naturalsciences.org. Downtown hours listed there are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. This site is not an emergency service. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

What happened

In Raleigh, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences moved a 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossil into its public SECU DinoLab on Wednesday.

The city, as quoted by WRAL, closed W. Jones Street between Wilmington and Salisbury streets from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the delivery. That report said the block would ride in a white plaster jacket and that the lift was expected around 11 a.m.

Axios, WRAL and CBS17 all put the weight at about 5,000 pounds. In WRAL's account, the museum said the skeleton looks like an ostrich and is the first major fossil in the lab since the Dueling Dinosaurs.

Lindsay Zanno, who leads paleontology there, called it "a beautifully preserved skeleton with the potential to tell us something genuinely new about dinosaur evolution," Axios reported from a statement. That dispatch placed the bones in Utah's Kaiparowits Formation. Lab manager Eric Lund told the same newsroom the team had previously seen only pieces of this kind of animal — a foot, some vertebrae, some ribs — and now has the whole thing.

Zanno, speaking to WRAL, said the living animal would have been about 8 to 10 feet long, a fast runner with a toothless beak and feathers. CBS17 quoted her saying the coiled skeleton is probably a new species. Kerry Irish, the museum's communications director, told Axios that if it is new, this specimen would be the holotype. No formal name has been published.

Director Denise Young, in a Wednesday statement quoted by Axios, said the open lab was built so the public would not have to wait until the science was finished. The museum is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

The museum's own page lists downtown hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Axios reported free admission for the DinoLab on that schedule.

This site is not the museum. For hours, use naturalsciences.org.

This site is not an emergency service. If anyone is in danger, call 911.

Photos

Text-only. No outlet or museum photos are used here.

Why it matters

The fossil is now in a downtown lab that the public can watch. A new species is a possibility the museum has raised, not a result it has published.

Updates

  1. Oct 21, 2026, 6:12 PM

    WRAL, Axios and CBS17 report that the museum moved a 75-million-year-old, about-5,000-pound fossil into the SECU DinoLab on Wednesday. Researchers say it might be a new species. That is not confirmed.

Sources

  1. Large dinosaur being moved into downtown Raleigh's NC Museum of Natural Sciences (WRAL, Oct. 21, 2026: City of Raleigh post — W. Jones Street closed 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Oct. 21 between Wilmington St. and Salisbury St.; 75-million-year-old dinosaur into SECU DinoLab; jacket described as a large white cast; move around 11 a.m.; museum said skeleton resembles an ostrich and is the first major fossil since the Dueling Dinosaurs; Zanno on 8-to-10-foot toothless runner with feathers; general admission free)

    Official sourcePublished by City of Raleigh and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, via WRAL · Checked Oct 21, 2026, 6:00 PM

  2. Rare dinosaur fossil in Raleigh museum may reveal new species (Axios Raleigh, Oct. 21, 2026: 75-million-year-old ostrich-like skeleton; could be a new species; Eric Lund on first complete specimen from the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah; Kerry Irish on holotype if new; Zanno statement calling it a dream fossil; 5,000-pound block; sandstone and plaster; Denise Young statement on the open lab; museum is part of N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; SECU DinoLab 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Sunday, free admission, 11 W. Jones St.)

    Published by Axios Raleigh · Checked Oct 21, 2026, 6:00 PM

  3. 75-million-year-old dinosaur delivered to NC Museum of Natural Sciences for research (CBS17, Oct. 21, 2026: Wednesday delivery; Lindsay Zanno on a coiled skeleton that is probably a new species; ostrich-like with a long tail; found in southern Utah; about 5,000-pound sandstone block; visitors can watch work in the SECU Dino Lab)

    Published by CBS17 · Checked Oct 21, 2026, 6:00 PM

  4. Dueling Dinosaurs exhibit page (downtown hours Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; last entry 4 p.m.; Nature Research Center lab at 121 West Jones Street; museum address 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601; 67-million-year-old tyrannosaur and Triceratops fossil in the public paleontology lab)

    Official sourcePublished by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences · Checked Oct 21, 2026, 6:00 PM

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