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Palaeontology

Near-complete tyrannosaur fossil found in Utah

By T.K. Randall
October 22, 2017 · Comment icon 20 comments

Teratophoneus curriei was a ferocious predator. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 David Monniaux
Palaeontologists have unearthed the skeleton of a meat-eating dinosaur dating back over 76 million years.
The remarkably well-preserved tyrannosaur, which is thought to belong to the species Teratophoneus curriei, was discovered on a field site in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

"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 palaeontologist Dr. Randall Irmis.

"We are eager to get a closer look at this fossil to learn more about the southern tyrannosaur's anatomy, biology, and evolution."
First discovered back in July 2015, the skeleton took up to 3,000 man-hours to excavate.

Measuring around 20ft long, the dinosaur was 12-15 years old when it died and its remarkable preservation has been attributed to its location within a prehistoric river channel or floodplain.

The species roamed what is now North America between 66 and 90 million years ago.

Source: Russia Today | Comments (20)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #11 Posted by Carnoferox 6 years ago
I think he might be saying that the Ice Age caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, but I'm not sure.
Comment icon #12 Posted by taniwha 6 years ago
I would settle for finding a tooth or perhaps a claw to wear round my neck.
Comment icon #13 Posted by paperdyer 6 years ago
That's what I meant.  The object that struck the Yucatan peninsula must have put enough small pieces of dirt and itself to block the sunlight the way a nuclear winter is always represented as happening.  Lizards like heat. If they don't have and they couldn't adapt, they died.
Comment icon #14 Posted by Carnoferox 6 years ago
Yes, there is evidence for an impact winter that lasted 1-10 years following the Chicxulub event: http://www.pnas.org/content/111/21/7537.full However, dinosaurs weren't lizards and they weren't ectothermic. It wasn't the winter that directly killed them, but its effects on photosynthesis and the ecosystem would have been a contributing factor to their extinction. It is important to keep in mind that there was not a singular cause for the extinction of the dinosaurs but rather a combination of factors.
Comment icon #15 Posted by third_eye 6 years ago
I thought most of them went on to become birds ? ~
Comment icon #16 Posted by Carnoferox 6 years ago
Indeed they did. I was speaking in regards to the non-avialan dinosaurs that went extinct.
Comment icon #17 Posted by Piney 6 years ago
Careful, you might wind up displayed in a creation science museum.
Comment icon #18 Posted by third_eye 6 years ago
THat's what I tell the kiddies ... in some respect that they are in fact, munching on dinos when they are biting into a McChicken ... ~ If that be the case then I am sure they will wrap me up in a loin cloth ... ~
Comment icon #19 Posted by Piney 6 years ago
Wouldn't want any pelvis exposure around children.
Comment icon #20 Posted by third_eye 6 years ago
In a pelvic sense, one can't possibly any more fully exposed when one in there only in the bones ... ~


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