--- title: Cold Weather Dinosaur Species Found in Alaska description: The newfound species suggests dinosaurs adapted to cold, dark weathers. canonical: https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-22T15:04:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:08:58.517Z article:section: Science og:title: This Newly Discovered Dinosaur Thrived in the Cold of Alaska og:description: Scientists think the species debunks belief that dinosaurs lived only in warmth og:url: https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94bb94bd164d2b1/698864b50b72e3f5d46e5ef3/dinosaur.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 149699865 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Newly Discovered Dinosaur Thrived in the Cold of Alaska twitter:description: Scientists think the species debunks belief that dinosaurs lived only in warmth twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94bb94bd164d2b1/698864b50b72e3f5d46e5ef3/dinosaur.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Newly Discovered Dinosaur Thrived in the Cold of Alaska  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 22, 2015 3:04 PM UTC  Torvosaurus skeleton at Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, along Route 66. Torvosaurus skeleton at Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, along Route 66.Tim Bewer—Getty Images/Lonely Planet Image  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 22, 2015 3:04 PM UTC A new species of dinosaur that apparently thrived in the cold has been discovered in a remote corner of Alaska. Greg Erickson, professor of paleobiology at Florida State University, and his colleague Patrick Druckenmiller, geology professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, announced the discovery of a 70-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur Tuesday in the journal [_Acta Palaeontologica Polonica_](https://www.app.pan.pl/home.html). The dinosaur’s fossils mark a turning point in paleontology, which up to this point, has focused on warmer climes. The duck-billed species, dubbed _Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis_, has bones practically littered in the cold Alaskan landscape, indicating to researchers that it not only survived the cold, 40-degree weather—but thrived. “It wasn’t so long ago that the idea of dinosaurs living up in the polar world was kind of, you know, really? Are you kidding?” [Druckenmiller told the Washington ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/22/a-lost-world-of-dinosaurs-thrived-in-the-snowy-dark-of-alaska-researchers-say/)[_Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/09/22/a-lost-world-of-dinosaurs-thrived-in-the-snowy-dark-of-alaska-researchers-say/)_._ _Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis_‘s ability to be robustly dominant in the Prince Creek Formation suggests to researchers that these dinosaurs must have been able to adapt to the cold in some way. And being at the polar regions of the world meant the vegetarian dinosaurs also endured periods of darkness. There are no signs that _Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis_ migrated for sunshine or warmth, suggesting the species tolerated and grew to call the area home. “These were dinosaurs living at the very edge of what we think dinosaurs were physiological capable of,” Druckenmiller said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/"},"headline":"This Newly Discovered Dinosaur Thrived in the Cold of Alaska","datePublished":"2015-09-22T15:04:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:08:58.517Z","description":"The duck-billed species roamed the Last Frontier 70 million years ago","url":"https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/","keywords":["Paleontology","Alaska","dinosaurs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94bb94bd164d2b1/698864b50b72e3f5d46e5ef3/dinosaur.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta94bb94bd164d2b1/698864b50b72e3f5d46e5ef3/dinosaur.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"149699865","caption":"149699865","creditText":"Tim Bewer—Getty Images/Lonely Planet Image","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/paleontology/","name":"Paleontology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4044269/alaska-cold-dinosaur/","name":"This Newly Discovered Dinosaur Thrived in the Cold of Alaska"}}]}] ```