OU museum has the only known fossil of the cute dinosaur star of 'Jurassic World Rebirth'

From the gentle giants Titanosaurses and fearsome water predators Spinosauruses to the monstrously mutated Distortus Rex and the fierce Quetzalcoatlus, a "flying carnivore the size of an F-16," the blockbuster "Jurassic World Rebirth" introduces a veritable menagerie of new dinosaurs to the venerable film franchise.

But the seventh movie in the long-running series, which dates back to the 1993 classic "Jurassic Park," also brings in arguably one of the cutest of prehistoric creatures in cinema history in an Aquilops, a small early relative of Triceratops.

Formally known as Aquilops americanus , the adorable herbivore scurries into the hearts of stranded sailing enthusiastic Reuben Delgado (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and his family — and into the backpack of his younger daughter, Isabella (Audrina Miranda), who names the curious, sweet-natured critter Dolores — as they try to survive on a remote island dominated by dinosaurs.

"It's a dinosaur that would have been a small dinosaur for its time. ... A lot of people just imagine all the dinosaurs being huge. Here's an example of one that did not really grow much bigger than that," said Kyle Davies, fossil preparator at the Sam Noble Museum, indicating an illustration of a girl holding a dinosaur about the size of a small cat.

"But it shows that they both existed and that they may have been interesting things to interact with, had humans been around."

The little dinosaur that emerged as a big star in the hit reboot — "Jurassic World Rebirth" has made more than $750 million in worldwide box office since it stomped into theaters July 2 — is also a big boon to the University of Oklahoma's natural history museum. The Sam Noble Museum in Norman is home to the only known Aquilops fossil specimen.

"It's a publicity boost for us ... and it's just fun to realize that something here — which is unique, actually, so far — is getting that kind of attention," Davies said.

With "Jurassic World Rebirth" scampering onto digital platforms Tuesday, Aug. 5, then roaring onto 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Sept. 9, Sam Noble Museum staffers are giving the small fossilized Aquilops skull the type of star treatment that would be expected for its cinematic co-stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

How did an Oklahoma museum come to have the only known fossil of a cute dinosaur star of 'Jurassic World Rebirth?'

Visitors to the Sam Noble Museum can follow a trail of faux footprints into the first-floor Hall of Ancient Life, where a giant sign emblazoned with the words "You found me!" literally points the way to the case displaying the real fossilized Aquilops skull, plus petite re-creations of the skull and a small model of what the dinosaur is believed to have looked like.

"I think it's really cool that, at the Sam Noble Museum, we've got one of the biggest horned dinosaurs of all time, the gigantic Pentaceratops , that's one of the largest and latest in the Late Cretaceous (period) , and we have one of the smallest and earliest in the form of Aquilops," said paleontologist Matt Wedel during a recent Zoom presentation at the museum.

Before it made its movie debut in "Jurassic World Rebirth," Aquilops americanus — which means "American eagle face" — was originally discovered in 1997 by paleontologist Scott Madsen, a member of an expeditionary team to Montana led by Rich Cifelli, who was then curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Sam Noble Museum.

It wasn't until 2014, when Cifelli and Sam Noble Museum research associates Wedel, Andrew Farke and W. Desmond Maxwell co-authored the paper officially describing Aquilops americanus as a new species, that it became clear how important the specimen was to science.

"So, this is a very early ancestor of things like Triceratops and Pentaceratops ... and there were loads and loads and loads of these horned dinosaurs," Wedel said.

Aquilops is believed to have lived about 109 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, and it is now considered the oldest of the horned dinosaurs from North America. Although the skull is small enough to fit in the palm of a human's hand, the Aquilops fossil provides important insight into vertebrate history during the latter part of the age of dinosaurs.

"When the skull was found, it was crushed. ... I made a clay reconstruction of what the missing parts of the skull would look like and attached it to a high-quality casting of the actual skull. So, then, it gives a better idea what the whole thing would look like," Davies said.

"We then had an artist in our graphics department who used a three-dimensional sculpting program called ZBrush to produce a uncrushed version of the skull, to again, give us a better idea of what it would completely look like. ... This was an exciting time for us at the museum, and we worked very hard to get it on display as soon as we could."

The Aquilops skull and related items have been on view at the museum since 2015.

How accurately is Aquilops depicted in 'Jurassic World Rebirth?'

To celebrate the small dinosaur's big blockbuster bow, the Sam Noble Museum asked well-known Norman-based one-man band Mike Hosty to write a song in honor of the new "Norman, OK celebrity." Hosty debuted his lively ditty "Aquilops" during the museum's recent Aquilops Day celebration, and its first verse tunefully provides a solid description of the dino:

"Two feet long, size of a cat

Weighed about three pounds

Munched on plants

Eagle face but ain't no bird

Starred as Dolores in 'Jurassic World'

Skull no bigger than a lemon"

Although Hosty consulted with Sam Noble Museum staffers to ensure the accuracy of his "Aquilops" song, Davies said they were surprised to learn the diminutive dino would be making its big-screen debut in "Jurassic World Rebirth."

"One of our retired curators sent an email out that he'd spotted it in the advertising for the LEGO toys. Then, the next thing that came in is we got some people that we knew who sent us the trailer, and that was our first real revelation that it was going to be in the movie," he said.

Still, Davies said "Jurassic World Rebirth" provides a fairly true-to-life depiction of Aquilops, from its small size to the bump on its beak.

"It's reasonably accurately represented in the movie," he said. "Despite the fact that its descendants — the big, huge ones — go back to being four-footed, what you're seeing with the Aquilops ... is they're clearly what are called facultative bipeds. So, that's where they'll stand up on their hind legs a lot, and the best example we have in the modern world of this is a kangaroo. If you ever see kangaroos grazing, they get down on all fours, but when it comes time to boogie, they get up on just their hind legs and go."

Although many dinosaur species have made cameos in the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" movies, the adorable Aquilops scampered to significant screentime in "Rebirth." Along with the LEGO sets, it has been featured on Dr Pepper cans and even been turned into a Funko Pop in conjunction with the film.

"So, it's been a busy dinosaur," Davies said. "It's just very exciting for us that we've got one of our special specimens that's become a movie star."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: You can see Aquilops, like in 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' at OU museum