US EditionNanotyrannus likely was a tiny adult dino and not a teen T. rex
Microscopic analysis of a throat bone proves Nanotyrannus was fully grown, confirming its status as a separate species and introducing a new fossil aging method.
- Researchers analyzed the hyoid bone of a dinosaur fossil and found growth patterns indicating it was a mature adult, confirming Nanotyrannus was a distinct species rather than a juvenile T. rex.
- The Nanotyrannus fossil was first classified as Gorgosaurus, then renamed Nanotyrannus lancensis in 1988, before being considered a juvenile T. rex by many researchers.
- A dueling dinosaurs fossil last month added weight to the case that Nanotyrannus was its own species, and this new study using the hyoid bone resolved the uncertainty about the age of the original fossil.
13 Articles
13 Articles
A throat bone settles it - Nanotyrannus was not a juvenile T. rex | Science-Environment
A throat bone settles it - Nanotyrannus was not a juvenile T. rex Paleontologists for decades debated whether meat-eating dinosaur Nanotyrannus was actually just a juvenile Tyrannosaurus. But within a span of five weeks, the matter seems to have been definitively resolved by two new studies showing that Nanotyrannus was clearly distinct from T. rex.The latest study, published on Thursday, focused on a throat bone called the hyoid from the first …
Two scientific studies suddenly contradict the idea that some specimens would be immature "T. rex". They suggest a greater diversity of tyrannosaurids shortly before the disappearance of non-avian dinosaurs.
All T-rex teenagers will begin an identity crisis this Thursday. The article published in Science magazine is the second in less than two months that proposes to review the previous findings awarded to young specimens of tyrannosaurus rex to consider if it was not actually Nanotyrannus; a different species that would have coexisted with the popular dinosaur about 67 million years ago. Continue reading
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