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- New dinosaur species related to T. Rex discovered (abcnews.go.com)
Move over, T. rex! There’s a new tyrannosaur in town, and it’s shaking up our understanding of dinosaur evolution.
Researchers have announced the discovery of Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, a new species of tyrannosaur identified from two partial skeletons found decades ago in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. The fossils, initially misidentified, were rediscovered in 2023 by University of Calgary PhD student Jared Voris during a visit to the Central Museum of Dinosaurs of Mongolia. Voris noticed unusual features, such as an air cavity near the nose, not typically seen in large apex predators like T. rex, prompting a closer look.
This “relatively small” tyrannosaur, estimated to have been about 13 feet long and weighing around 1,700 pounds, is believed to be a close relative of the North American Eutyrannosauria group, which includes the iconic T. rex. Interestingly, Khankhuuluu also appears to be an ancestor of both the large, deep-snouted Tyrannosaurini and the smaller, shallow-snouted Alioramini.
This discovery fills a crucial gap in our knowledge of tyrannosaur evolution, acting as a “missing link” between smaller tyrannosaurs and giants like the T. rex, which could weigh up to 10,000 pounds. The findings, published in Nature, shed new light on the diversification and movement of these prehistoric predators during the late Cretaceous period.
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- New dinosaur species related to T. Rex discovered (abcnews.go.com)