'Baby' tyrannosaur fossil unearthed

[Still Waters]

For now, there are just a few things researchers and students at the University of Kansas want people to dig about the new dinosaur they recently excavated in Montana's Hell Creek Formation.

First off, it's a "fabulous" complete section of the upper jaw with all of its teeth intact, along with bits of the specimen's skull, foot, hips and backbones. It's likely to be the rare fossilized remains of a young Tyrannosaurus rex that lived 66.5 million years ago. But it also could be another species of smaller meat-eating dinosaur (it's a bit of a scientific controversy)—they're still analyzing their discovery.

https://phys.org/news/2018-03-baby-tyrannosaur-fossil-unearthed-montana.html

[Herr Falukorv]

Incredibly, the juveniles would have gained up to 3lbs every day at the peak of their growth

That sounds like me when I have vacation around christmas

[Galactic Goatman]

So, can we finally decide what Nanotyrannus is now? (Or did we, I’m kinda behind in the world of Dino news) 

[oldrover]

7 hours ago, AustinHinton said:

So, can we finally decide what Nanotyrannus is now? (Or did we, I’m kinda behind in the world of Dino news) 

I think it's considered a juvenile now. But I'm not sure either.

 

[Carnoferox]

9 minutes ago, oldrover said:

I think it's considered a juvenile now. But I'm not sure either.

 

Most researchers consider individuals formerly assigned to Nanotyrannus to be juvenile T. rex, but a few still advocate for generic separation.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Carnoferox

[Galactic Goatman]

56 minutes ago, Carnoferox said:

Most researchers consider individuals formerly assigned to Nanotyrannus to be juvenile T. rex, but a few still advocate for generic separation.

Interesting, any particular reason why? 

[Carnoferox]

8 minutes ago, AustinHinton said:

Interesting, any particular reason why? 

The majority contend that the characteristics used to distinguish Nanotyrannus are just due to individual variation and ontogenetic change.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Carnoferox

[Galactic Goatman]

3 hours ago, Carnoferox said:

The majority contend that the characteristics used to distinguish Nanotyrannus are just due to individual variation and ontogenetic change.

Ah ok! 

[Galactic Goatman]

20 hours ago, seanjo said:

I remember reading an article that said a lot of Juveniles of species like Triceratops had been misclassified as different species altogether.

*cough cough* Stygimoloch *cough cough* 

[Grignr]

I'm not sure if there've been further developments but there was a great TED talk some time back about misidentifying dino juveniles:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_shape_shifting_dinosaurs

 

Edited April 5, 2018 by Grignr

[Grignr]

Sorry, internet where I am is a bit weird, let me know if the link fails to display.