The newly created T. Rex ancestor is “missing link” between peak predators, says dinosaur researchers

More than 85 million years ago, Tyrannosaurus Rex’s smaller body ancestors wandered in the Mongolian plains. The identity of the dinosaur was unknown – so far.

Inside study On Wednesday, published in nature on Wednesday, scientists describe the identification of a new tyrannosauroid named Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis. Apex predators including T. RexAfter all, these smallest tyrannosauroids came from, the researchers said.

“This species, Khankhuuluu, is a missing link between smaller and previous forms and larger peaks of predatory Tyrannosaurus,” said Palaeontologist Darla Zelenitsky, Professor at the University of Calgary and co -author of the University of Calgari.

The skeleton of Khankhuuluu was opened in the Mongolia Gobi Desert in 1972 or 1973, but was not scientifically studied just a few years later, Zelenitsky said. The Mongolian Paleontologist Altangerel Perle identified the remains as alectosaur Olson, another vague species. After improper identification, the bones became part of the museum collection and were relatively intact for almost 50 years.

These smaller carnivores were referred to as medium -grade tyrannousoids, an open study. In the period when Khankhuuluu lived in Mongolia, the Tyrannosaurs began to grow larger and take the signs of predators. These elusive tyrannosauroids are not much else because fragmentary fossils remains, but the researchers said the dinosaurs weigh about 1,700 pounds. At that time, they were one of the largest carnivores in the ecosystem.

“This is basically a direct ancestor of the Tyrannosaur family,” Zelenitsky said.

Surprise

Jared Voris, a scientist and co -author of the University of Calgary, went to Mongolia a few years earlier to explore the bones of various tyranny and in the process to see the bones for what they later determine is khankhuuluu.

Voris thought the remains could be something important because he often saw references to samples pop -up, but after he began to test his bones, he knew it could be something special. While studying the individual characteristics of the bones, one of the things he noticed was that Khankhuuluu’s teeth could not ruin the bone, said Voris, which is characteristic of the larger peaks of predatory Tirannozaur.

“This animal had features that we had never seen in several of our iconic Tirannosauros,” said Voris.

He sent a text message to Zelenitsky from Mongolia that he “thought it could be a new species”. Zelenitsky said she replied, “I said, great, keep looking for it so we could be sure that this is a new species.”

Both paleontologists are not new related to revolutionary scientific discoveries – they have had several. 2023Zelenitsky was part of the team identified Tyrannosaurus fossils with a meal in the stomach, and Vorisu open New Tyrannosaurid dinosaur species, Thanatoterist Degrootorum – the name of which means “death mower”.

“Rewwriting of Tyrannosaur Family History”

These Asian tyrannosauroids eventually crossed North America using the Northern Land Bridge between Alaska and Siberia, Zelenitsky said. The dinosaurs used these land bridges, which periodically appeared over the past 100 million years to travel between Asia and North America.

And from this, these tyrannosauroids developed and entered the peaks in predators. T. Rex is The deadly predator of the Earth Once upon a time, there is a passion for a dinosaur for about 66 million years.

Co -authors of the study said the new identification shows that there is still a major discovery in science. “What really started, just as a new species, the discovery ended with us, how to rewrite family history from the history of Tiranneurs,” said Zelenitsky.