Pinocchio rex dinosaur discovered
QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 10:23 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 10:51 AM EDT
A new breed of long-snouted tyrannosaur has been discovered in southern China, researchers say.
Named Qianzhousaurus sinensis, it has been dubbed the Pinocchio rex by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the University of Edinburgh. It belongs to the same family as the Tyrannosaurus rex and roamed Asia during the late Cretaceous period.
The new specimen was found remarkably well-preserved in Ganzhou, China, the researchers said.
"This is a different breed of tyrannosaur. It has the familiar toothy grin of T. rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose. It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier," researcher Steve Brusatte said in a press release about the find, which has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
The image shows the skull of Qianzhousaurus, dubbed the Pinocchio rex. It was discovered recently in southern China. (Junchang Lu/Handout/QMI Agency)
Pinocchio rex dinosaur discovered | World | News | Toronto Sun
QMI Agency
First posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 10:23 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, May 07, 2014 10:51 AM EDT
A new breed of long-snouted tyrannosaur has been discovered in southern China, researchers say.
Named Qianzhousaurus sinensis, it has been dubbed the Pinocchio rex by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the University of Edinburgh. It belongs to the same family as the Tyrannosaurus rex and roamed Asia during the late Cretaceous period.
The new specimen was found remarkably well-preserved in Ganzhou, China, the researchers said.
"This is a different breed of tyrannosaur. It has the familiar toothy grin of T. rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose. It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier," researcher Steve Brusatte said in a press release about the find, which has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
The image shows the skull of Qianzhousaurus, dubbed the Pinocchio rex. It was discovered recently in southern China. (Junchang Lu/Handout/QMI Agency)
Pinocchio rex dinosaur discovered | World | News | Toronto Sun