Archaeologists have found the most
complete tyrannosaur fossil ever in the southwestern US, dating back 76 million
years (text in english)
The species is Teratophoneus
curriei, and is thought to have been one of the first tyrannosaurs to walk
across North America during the Late Cretaceous Period. That dates back 90 to
66 million years ago, when the age of the dinosaurs was brought to an end by an
asteroid impact.
It was found in July 2015 by Dr Alan
Titus, a palaeontologist at the the Bureau of Land Management's Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) in the Kaiparowits Formation in
southern Utah. It’s thought this tyrannosaur was buried in a river channel or
by a flooding event, which has kept it remarkably intact.
This particular finding appears to
be a young adult, about 12 to 15 years old. It measures 5.2 to 6.1 meters (17
to 20 feet) long, and it has a shorter head than northern tyrannosaurs. What
was particularly impressive, though, is that three-quarters of this creature’s
bones were preserved. This
includes the skull, which is nearly complete.
"With at least 75 percent of
its bones preserved, this is the most complete skeleton of a tyrannosaur ever
discovered in the southwestern US," said Dr Randall Irmis from the
University of Utah in a statement. "We are eager to get a closer look at
this fossil to learn more about the southern tyrannosaur's anatomy, biology,
and evolution."
The bones were covered in plaster
before being taken out of the rock to prevent cracking. Mark Johnston/NHMU
Between 2,000 and 3,000 people
helped excavate the site, taking at least 10,000 hours to prepare the specimen
for research. Following a three-week excavation in May 2017, the specimen was
airlifted out. It will be kept at the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Little has been known about
tyrannosaurs in the southern US until now because most have been found in the
Great Plains in the northern US and Canada. This discovery should help
palaeontologists work out the history of tyrannosaurs in the South.
The team are not yet sure if this
species is new, or an individual of Teratophoneus. They hope to find out by
looking at the size of the fossil, its growth pattern, and its biology. This
will tell them how it moved, how fast it could run, and how it ate.
“The possibilities are endless and
exciting,” said Irmis.
Mark
Johnston/NHMU
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