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The Tyrannosaur Thread- Anything T. rex or tyrannosaurid related
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Lythronax, new "king of gore" tyrannosaur
Expect many excessively bloody illustrations of this critter during the following months. It was not very big, but had a short wide snout and big teeth much like Tyrannosaurus rex despite being the oldest tyrannosaurid known.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/06/lythronax-argestes-tyrannosaurs
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At last, a tyrannosaur trackway- may be from Albertosaurus, Gorgosaurus or Daspletosaurus- shows these theropods did travel (hunt?) in small groups at least part of the time. In this case, three tyrannosaurs aged 20 to 30 were walking side by side, although keeping a respectful distance from each other.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103613
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/23/tyrannosaurs-hunted-packs-tracks-canada
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Nothing unexpected but very interesting all the same. Daspletosaurus joins Tyrannosaurus and Gorgosaurus/Albertosaurus as a known tyrannosaur cannibal.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/giant-cannibalistic-dinosaurs-engaged-in-ritualistic-fighting-10166911.html
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Large theropod teeth suggest previously unknown form of large theropod coexisted with tyrannosaurids in Asia during the late Cretaceous.
http://phys.org/news/2015-05-large-theropod-teeth-upper-cretaceous.html
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The tracks were probably made by a young T. rex
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2016/01/researcher-tracks-tyrannosaurs-trail/109253
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This very interesting paper suggests albertosaurines such as Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus (which may conceivably be one single genus) had a system akin to a lateral line that allowed them to better detect wind direction and align according to it during the hunt.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187064
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Juvenile T. rex, or Nanotyrannus? The debate continues.
http://today.ku.edu/2018/03/21/researchers-investigate-baby-tyrannosaur-fossil-unearthed-montana
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TIL Albertosaurus was named the same year Alberta became a province.
https://royaltyrrellmuseum.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/the-discovery-of-canadas-first-known-meat-eating-dinosaur/
Today we have many more remains and know far more about Albertosaurus. It could grow up to 9, maybe 10 meters long, had a bite force comparable to that of a great white shark, and was the dominant predator in North America from 71 to 68 million years ago. It apparently went extinct at about the same time as Tyrannosaurus rex appeared in North America.
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Dynamoterror, a new tyrannosaurid.
The name is an homage to "Dynamosaurus imperiosus", which is what T. rex was almost called at one point.
https://gizmodo.com/rare-t-rex-relative-discovered-in-new-mexico-1829629491?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
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There's between 12 and 15 tyrannosaurid genera currently described, and they span a considerably time period (from around 80 to 66 million years), yet their basic body plan changes practically nothing in all that time. So you have the oldest tyrannosaurid known from good remains, Lythronax:
looking almost exactly as the latest tyrannosaurids such as Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus:
I think this is a case of "if it's not broken don´t fix it". Tyrannosaurids were perfectly adapted to what they were doing, so maybe if they hadn´t gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, and as long as there were large prey to sustain them, chances are they would have remained pretty much the same for a very long time, like crocodiles, perhaps with outliers here and then adapted to alternate prey (fish-eating tyrannosaur?) or environment (island dwelling, mini-tyrannosaurs?)0 -
There's between 12 and 15 tyrannosaurid genera currently described, and they span a considerably time period (from around 80 to 66 million years), yet their basic body plan changes practically nothing in all that time. So you have the oldest tyrannosaurid known from good remains, Lythronax:
looking almost exactly as the latest tyrannosaurids such as Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus:
I think this is a case of "if it's not broken don´t fix it". Tyrannosaurids were perfectly adapted to what they were doing, so maybe if they hadn´t gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, and as long as there were large prey to sustain them, chances are they would have remained pretty much the same for a very long time, like crocodiles, perhaps with outliers here and then adapted to alternate prey (fish-eating tyrannosaur?) or environment (island dwelling, mini-tyrannosaurs?)
you mirror my own ideas Adam. so perhaps we are not too far from the truth.0 -
More remains from mysterious eastern North American tyrannosauroids
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329687124_LARGE_BASAL_TYRANNOSAUROIDS_FROM_THE_MAASTRICHTIAN_AND_TERRESTRIAL_VERTEBRATE_DIVERSITY_IN_THE_SHADOW_OF_THE_K-PG_EXTINCTION
The find is interesting because usually, tyrannosaurids such as T. rex are believed to have been the very last group of giant theropods to roam North America. However, these limb remains from 9+ meter theropods support the idea that eastern North America had a different fauna from the west, and that the top predator niche was filled by a different linneage of tyrannosauroids, probably more similar to Dryptosaurus:
(Dryptosaurus having inspired this very famous Charles Knight painting popularly known as the Leaping Lizards, back when the animal was known as Laelaps):
Sadly no good skeletons of Dryptosaurus and kin have been found yet, but they are believed to have been less derived than tyrannosaurids proper, and seem to have had longer, more powerful arms. Sometimes they have been reconstructed with three clawed fingers on each hand:
Or with two but proportionally much larger than in tyrannosaurids:
More remains needed as usual.0 -
Small tyrannosauroid named after Greek god of impending doom
This is an interesting find, as it shows what tyrannosauroids looked like and what niche they occupied 96 million years ago, a time in which North America was still ruled by allosaur-type creatures.
The new tyrannosauroid is called Moros intrepidus, was about 3.5 m long and would've been a fast running predator of small animals, thus avoiding competition with the likes of the contemporary Siats (the dominant predator at the time as far as we know).
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/new-tiny-t-rex-relative-moros-fills-north-american-fossil-gap/
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A new study suggests the Canadian T. rex known as "RSM P2523.8" (a.k.a. "Scotty") exceeds even the famous Sue/FMNH PR2081 (until now considered the largest T. rex specimen known from decent remains) in weight, estimated at almost 9 tons.The body mass of RSM P2523.8 is
thus estimated to be ~8,870 kgs (+/- 25%).
It would thus be the heaviest T. rex on record, but not necessarily the longest or tallest:notably
exceeds all T. rex specimens that have been previously categorized as robust (Larson, 2008b).
However, in many length measurements (proximodistal femoral, tibial and jaw length) RSM
P2523.8 is exceeded by some individuals previously categorized as gracile (Larson, 2008b).
Whether or not a robust/gracile dichotomy exists among T. rex, these comparisons indicate that
RSM P2523.8 was a large and robustly-proportioned individual, but likely with a shorter total
hip-height and snout-vent length than other known specimens showing more elongate
proportions
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/...6lrXXD1-pKQdk&
This would make "RSM P2523.8/ "Scotty" heavier than any other giant theropod for which there's reliable estimates, although the study does accept that there's a much more fragmentary record for the likes of Giganotosaurus, Tyrannotitan and Spinosaurus, and new finds may show these grew just as large if not larger.Although RSM P2523.8 has an estimated weight more than 40% greater than the next
largest known theropod taxon, specimens of several other theropod species (including
Giganotosaurus carolinii and Tyrannotitan chubutensis) have femoral proportions indicative of
body masses greater than those of most other adult T. rex specimens. As
such, it is likely that further sampling of these other giant theropods, all of which are represented
by fewer specimens than T. rex, may yield larger individuals that match or surpass the size of
RSM P2523.8. In the case of Giganotosaurus carolinii, a sing dentary is known that does hint at
a greater maximum size (Calvo, 2000).
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How T. rex lost its third claw:
https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/on-exhibit-posts/t-rex-third-claw
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Possible tyrannosauroid tooth found in Japan
https://www.sankei.com/life/photos/190419/lif1904190032-p3.html
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T. rex specimen for sale on eBay, and paleontologists of course are less than happy:
https://www.livescience.com/65296-baby-t-rex-ebay-auction.html
Although listed as a "baby T. rex", in reality it would have been 4 years old or so at the moment of death, and around 4.5 m long, so hardly a baby anymore; still, juvenile T. rex specimens are extremely rare. Hatchlings, as far as I know, have never been discovered, and neither have nests or eggs, meaning practically everything about T. rex' early life is unknown.
Here's a reconstruction of this particular specimen, nicknamed "Baby Bob" and "Son of Samson" (Samson being another T. rex that was also auctioned):
And here's the actual fossil:
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Small, potential ancestor to T. rex found in New Mexico, named Suskityrannus or "coyote-like tyrant".
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/suskityrannus-hazelae/
At only one meter tall at the hips it was only a fraction of T. rex's size but is very similar, proportion-size, to juvenile T. rex.
Here's the fragments of Suskityrannus' skeleton compared to T. rex's jaw:
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