Tuesday 29 November 2022 02:18 PM Tyrannosaur with horns around its eyes roamed North America 76 million years ago trends now
The fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex is often referred to as the 'King of the Dinosaurs'.
But what came before it and how did it evolve to become the terrifying beast that it did?
Palaeontologists now think they are closer to having the answer after discovering the remains of a 'frightful' new species of tyrannosaur with horns around its eyes.
They think that Daspletosaurus wilsoni, which was identified by fossilised skull and skeletal fragments that date to about 76.5 million years ago, could have been a director ancestor of T.Rex.
Meet the 'frightful' one: Palaeontologists have discovered a new type of tyrannosaur with horns around its eyes. Daspletosaurus wilsoni (shown in an artist's impression) was identified by fossilised skull and skeletal fragments that date to about 76.5 million years ago
Palaeontologists from the Badlands Dinosaur Museum in North Dakota uncovered the fossils, which include a rib and toe bone, at the Judith River Formation, in northeastern Montana, between 2017 and 2021
The new species was found in Montana and is seen as a 'half way point' or 'missing link' between older and younger tyrannosaur species.
It has a mix of features found in more primitive tyrannosaurs from older rocks, such as a prominent set of horns around the eye, as well as features otherwise known from later members of this group (including T. rex), like a tall eye socket and expanded air-pockets in the skull.
The genus Daspletosaurus is Greek for 'frightful lizard'.
Palaeontologists from the Badlands Dinosaur Museum in North Dakota uncovered the fossils, which include a rib and toe bone, at the Judith River Formation, in northeastern Montana, between 2017 and 2021.
The original discovery was made by crew member Jack Wilson, who spotted a small flat piece of bone projecting out from the bottom of a towering cliff.
This distinctive flat bone was the middle part of the nostril of a tyrannosaur and careful digging around the bone revealed a complete premaxilla - the bone at the tip of the snout.
The new species was found in Montana and is seen as a 'half way point' or 'missing link' between older and younger tyrannosaur species
The new specimen is one of four tyrannosaur skeletons recently collected by Badlands Dinosaur Museum. This images depicts the four disputing ownership of the fresh carcass of a Centrosaurus
The new species has a mix of features found in more primitive tyrannosaurs from older rocks, such as a prominent set of horns around the eye, as well as features otherwise known from later members of this
