[Adam Khor]

Anyone has a million dollars to spend?

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012...6701335990600/

I love how they call it Tyrannosaurus bataar. They could have used Tarbosaurus, but Tyrannosaurus would draw the masses, right?

[Galvasean]

I do hope a museum gets it and shares it with the public.

[Adam Khor]

Originally Posted by Galvasean

I do hope a museum gets it and shares it with the public.

[dlofnep]

If I was extremely wealthy, I'd buy it. Anyone ever see those fossil replicas? They look great - very expensive though!

[Galvasean]

Looks like it's on its way back to Mongolia:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dino...e-tarbosaurus/

[Galvasean]

The controversy just wont go away...
http://chasmosaurs.blogspot.ie/2012/...edium=facebook

[Adam Khor]

This Tarbosaurus refuses to let go of the headlines. Now it seems the skeleton is actually a composite of several individuals, not a single one:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...88501820120906

[Galvasean]

Read about that in the paper today. Should take a while before this one is sorted out unfortunately. The judge called it a sort of "frankenstein" dinosaur.

[Adam Khor]

And the story continues:

http://news.yahoo.com/fla-man-charge...--finance.html

[Capt'n Midnight]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20855935

He faces a maximum of 17 years imprisonment when he is sentenced in April.

US Attorney Preet Bharara said authorities would now begin the process of returning the fossils to their countries of origin.

"Fossils and ancient skeletal remains are part of the fabric of a country's natural history and cultural heritage, and black marketers like Prokopi who illegally export and sell these wonders, steal a slice of that history," he said.

[Rubecula]

Interesting, and slightly OT. What about the Elgin Marbles?

[Adam Khor]

Not a T-Rex, tho... a Tarbosaurus bataar.

Damn journalists...

[Galvasean]

Or possibly a Tyrannosaurus bataar, depending on which palaeontologists you listen to. FWIW, nowhere in the linked article does it say, "T. rex".

[Adam Khor]

Originally Posted by Galvasean

Or possibly a Tyrannosaurus bataar, depending on which palaeontologists you listen to. FWIW, nowhere in the linked article does it say, "T. rex".

Yeah, that was my point. It seems, tho, that Tarbosaurus may actually be more related to Alioramus than to Tyrannosaurus; sort of convergent evolution between two different tyrannosaur linneages. If so, we can kiss "Tyrannosaurus bataar" goodbye and T-Rex goes back to being the only known species of its genus...

[Rubecula]

Originally Posted by Adam Khor

Yeah, that was my point. It seems, tho, that Tarbosaurus may actually be more related to Alioramus than to Tyrannosaurus; sort of convergent evolution between two different tyrannosaur linneages. If so, we can kiss "Tyrannosaurus bataar" goodbye and T-Rex goes back to being the only known species of its genus...

That was something that escaped me totally until you pointed it out Adam. Thank you for that. Convergent evolution must have occurred back then, it occurs today. I am now feeling quite intrigued. (And foolish for missing the point)