Latest news with #T.rex
Time of India
21 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Meet the 'Dragon Prince': New dinosaur discovery rewrites the Tyrannosaur family tree
A fascinating fossil discovery in Mongolia has uncovered a new species of dinosaur that could reshape everything we thought we knew about the evolution of Tyrannosaurs. Named Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis, or "Dragon Prince of Mongolia", this 86-million-year-old predator is now considered the closest known ancestor of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex. With its transitional traits and smaller size, the find reveals a crucial evolutionary chapter between small, agile hunters and the massive apex predators that ruled the Late Cretaceous. Scientists say the discovery, buried for decades in a museum collection, offers fresh insight into how Tyrannosaurs evolved their powerful bite, skull shape, and dominant ecological role in both Asia and North America. A dinosaur fossil of 'Dragon Price' hidden in plain sight The partial skeletons that led to this discovery were actually excavated in Mongolia back in the 1970s. At the time, they were thought to belong to a species called Alectrosaurus. It wasn't until PhD student Jared Voris took a closer look, decades later, that the unique features of this new species began to emerge. Working alongside Professor Darla Zelenitsky from the University of Calgary, Voris spotted key differences in the skull and nasal bones that clearly separated it from other known dinosaurs. What is Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis Named after the word for 'dragon' in Mongolian and the region it was found in, Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis bridges a crucial gap in the Tyrannosaur timeline. Weighing around 750 kilograms, it was far smaller than the T. rex, which could tip the scales at over 6 tonnes. But it had key traits that hint at the future kings of the dinosaur world. Its skull showed signs of strengthening, and its jaw was developing the structure needed for the bone-crushing bite Tyrannosaurs are known for. The evolution of Tyrannosaurs Early members of the Tyrannosaur family were small, quick-footed hunters living in the shadows of larger meat-eaters. Khankhuuluu represents a shift from these agile predators towards the bulkier, more powerful giants of the Late Cretaceous. With stronger jaws and a larger build than its predecessors, it shows how evolution favoured size and strength over time. These adaptations eventually led to the dominance of species like T. rex, which could take down massive prey and even crush bones. A journey across continents Another important insight from this discovery is the role of ancient land bridges between Asia and North America. During the Late Cretaceous period, areas like Siberia and Alaska were connected, allowing species like Tyrannosaurs to migrate and evolve in new environments. This movement helped spark the emergence of distinct groups on different continents, explaining how similar predators could be found in both Asia and North America. Rewriting the family tree With the addition of Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis to the record, palaeontologists now have a clearer picture of how Tyrannosaurs evolved. It fills a key gap between the small early forms and the gigantic predators that came later. The findings, published in the journal Nature, could prompt scientists to revisit other old fossils that may have been misclassified. This discovery serves as a reminder that sometimes the answers to big questions have been waiting quietly in storage. What museum collections can still teach us What makes this story even more remarkable is that the fossil had been sitting in a Mongolian museum for over 40 years. It highlights how valuable museum collections are and how new techniques, fresh perspectives and even young researchers can uncover major breakthroughs from existing specimens. Not every discovery requires a dig, some are hidden in plain sight. Before the kings, there were princes The discovery of Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis gives us a rare look at the early days of a dynasty. While this dinosaur didn't have the size or fearsome presence of its famous descendants, it carried the building blocks of what would become one of Earth's most iconic predators. As Professor Zelenitsky put it, 'Before Tyrannosaurs became the kings, they were princes.' And this dragon prince may just be the missing link we didn't know we needed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists discover ‘dragon prince' dinosaur, the T. Rex's missing ancestor
Tyrannosaurus rex is a carnivorous icon. Exceeding 40 feet in length and nine tons, the bone-crushing giant stands out as the largest and last of its meat-eating family. Now a new and far smaller tyrannosaur is filling in the famous dinosaur's evolutionary backstory. The newest addition to the tyrannosaur family tree is named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, which translates to 'dragon prince from Mongolia.' Described this week in the journal Nature, the dinosaur has been identified for the first time from two partial skeletons that include skull bones, vertebrae, part of the hips, and limb bones. Altogether, the pieces reveal a slender tyrannosaur that roamed Cretaceous Mongolia about 86 million years ago and was about 13 feet long—or about the size of juvenile T. rex that would stalk North America 20 million years later. In fact, Khankhuuluu even looked like a juvenile of later, larger tyrannosaurs, with round eye sockets, blade-like teeth, and long, shallow jaws better suited to biting fast rather than hard. (T. rex had lips, upending its enduring pop culture image.) Khankhuuluu does more than simply add another dinosaur to the ever-growing roster of dinosaurs. 'Khankhuuluu gives us the origin story of tyrannosaurs,' says University of Calgary paleontologist and study co-author Darla Zelenitsky. In the early 1970s, Mongolian paleontologist Altangerel Perle found a pair of partial tyrannosaur skeletons in the eastern part of the country. The bones seemed similar to a small tyrannosaur that had been named before, Alectrosaurus. But when University of Calgary paleontologist and study co-author Jared Voris studied the bones during a research trip to Mongolia in 2023, he soon realized that the bones did not belong to Alectrosaurus at all. The bones from the two skeletons belonged to a new form of tyrannosaur that had been waiting to be discovered in collections for half a century. 'It had features like a hollow air chamber in side its nasal bone, which no other tyrannosaur species has,' Voris says. The fossils deserved a new name and have been recategorized as Khankhuuluu. Voris has found tyrannosaurs hiding in plain sight before. In 2020, Voris and colleagues named the 80 million-year-old tyrannosaur Thanatotheristes from bones assigned to another species found in Alberta. ("Reaper of Death" tyrannosaur discovered in Canada.) The finds are part of a burgeoning array of tyrannosaur discoveries. Instead of a simple line of evolution from early tyrannosaurs to T. rex, paleontologists have uncovered a wildly branching evolutionary bush of different tyrannosaur subgroups that came and went through the Cretaceous. The glut of new tyrannosaur species is allowing experts to piece together how big tyrannosaurs, including the gigantic T. rex, evolved and spread across vast stretches of the planet. When compared to other tyrannosaurs, the researchers found that Khankhuuluu is a close relative of the broader group of tyrannosaurs that include Gorgosaurus from Alberta, the bumpy-snouted Alioramus from Mongolia, and the iconic T. rex. The new family tree, as well as where the fossils were uncovered, create an updated picture of how tyrannosaurs evolved over 20 million years.'It is a pivotal species in understanding the evolutionary success of T. rex and its relatives,' says University College London paleontologist Cassius Morrison, who was not involved in the new study. In particular, the new analysis reveals how tyrannosaurs evolved into many different species as the carnivores wandered into new around the time of Khankhuuluu, Voris and colleagues propose, such small, slender tyrannosaurs were dispersing from prehistoric Asia into North America over a land bridge. 'Tyrannosaurs evolved into those giant apex predators and diversified very rapidly across North America,' Voris says, the first of what Zelenitsky calls 'two explosions of tyrannosaurs.' Some of the predators remained slender and chased smaller prey while others became bulkier and hunted larger dinosaurs, and they roamed habitats from southern California to New Jersey. (See how these fierce dinos evolved in our pages over 100 years.) The new study suggests, however, that the direct ancestors of T. rex, did not evolve in North America. Voris and colleagues propose that around 79 and 78 million years ago at least one lineage of tyrannosaurs ventured back into Asia. The researchers know this because of the close relationship of two tyrannosaur groups that at a glance might seem very different. When tyrannosaurs returned to Asia during this period and underwent their second explosion, one group was relatively slender and had long snouts decorated with small horns, like the 'Pinocchio' dinosaur Qianzhousaurus. The other group began to grow larger, with deep skulls adept at crushing bones, like Tarbosaurus. T. rex evolved from ancestors in the second group, a lineage of bone-crushers that once again crossed the land bridge back into North America between 73 and 67 million years ago—making T. rex a new form of predator that arrived from another continent. 'The new analysis provides strong support that the ancestors of T. rex evolved from a group of tyrannosaurs that ventured back to Asia after they had undergone an evolutionary radiation in North America,' Morrison says. Ultimately, the study suggests that the rise of one of Earth's largest carnivores was due to a back-and-forth between North America and Asia that took place over a period of 20 million years. Had a devastating asteroid impact not abruptly ended the Cretaceous 66 million years ago, tyrannosaurs would have undoubtedly kept changing.
National Geographic
12-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
Scientists discover ‘dragon prince' dinosaur, the T. Rex's missing ancestor
Khankhuuluu mongoliensis was slender with features like no other member of the tyrannosaur family tree. This illustration depicts how the slender Khankhuuluu mongoliensis may have appeared as it roamed Mongolia during the Cretaceous period. The newest addition to the tyrannosaur family, the discovery of this "dragon prince from Mongolia" sheds light on the origins of Tyrannosaurus rex. Illustration by Julius Csotonyi Tyrannosaurus rex is a carnivorous icon. Exceeding 40 feet in length and nine tons, the bone-crushing giant stands out as the largest and last of its meat-eating family. Now a new and far smaller tyrannosaur is filling in the famous dinosaur's evolutionary backstory. The newest addition to the tyrannosaur family tree is named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, which translates to 'dragon prince from Mongolia.' Described this week in the journal Nature, the dinosaur has been identified for the first time from two partial skeletons that include skull bones, vertebrae, part of the hips, and limb bones. Altogether, the pieces reveal a slender tyrannosaur that roamed Cretaceous Mongolia about 86 million years ago and was about 13 feet long—or about the size of juvenile T. rex that would stalk North America 20 million years later. In fact, Khankhuuluu even looked like a juvenile of later, larger tyrannosaurs, with round eye sockets, blade-like teeth, and long, shallow jaws better suited to biting fast rather than hard. (T. rex had lips, upending its enduring pop culture image.) Khankhuuluu does more than simply add another dinosaur to the ever-growing roster of dinosaurs. 'Khankhuuluu gives us the origin story of tyrannosaurs,' says University of Calgary paleontologist and study co-author Darla Zelenitsky. Comparing the fossils of mature Khankhuuluu (a, d, g) with fossils of mature Gorgosaurus (c, f, i) and juvenile Gorgosaurus (b, e, h) provides new insights into the evolutionary lineage between the smaller-bodied tyrannosauroids, such as Khankhuuluu, and the larger eutyrannosaurians like Gorgosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Silhouettes compare the sizes of Khankhuuluu (left) with a juvenile (right) and adult (middle) Gorgosaurus. Scale bars, 5 cm (individual elements) and 1 m (silhouette). Illustration by Voris et al. (2025), Nature In the early 1970s, Mongolian paleontologist Altangerel Perle found a pair of partial tyrannosaur skeletons in the eastern part of the country. The bones seemed similar to a small tyrannosaur that had been named before, Alectrosaurus. But when University of Calgary paleontologist and study co-author Jared Voris studied the bones during a research trip to Mongolia in 2023, he soon realized that the bones did not belong to Alectrosaurus at all. The bones from the two skeletons belonged to a new form of tyrannosaur that had been waiting to be discovered in collections for half a century. 'It had features like a hollow air chamber in side its nasal bone, which no other tyrannosaur species has,' Voris says. The fossils deserved a new name and have been recategorized as Khankhuuluu. Voris has found tyrannosaurs hiding in plain sight before. In 2020, Voris and colleagues named the 80 million-year-old tyrannosaur Thanatotheristes from bones assigned to another species found in Alberta. ("Reaper of Death" tyrannosaur discovered in Canada.) The finds are part of a burgeoning array of tyrannosaur discoveries. Instead of a simple line of evolution from early tyrannosaurs to T. rex, paleontologists have uncovered a wildly branching evolutionary bush of different tyrannosaur subgroups that came and went through the Cretaceous. The glut of new tyrannosaur species is allowing experts to piece together how big tyrannosaurs, including the gigantic T. rex, evolved and spread across vast stretches of the planet. What the 'dragon prince' tells us about the evolution of T. rex When compared to other tyrannosaurs, the researchers found that Khankhuuluu is a close relative of the broader group of tyrannosaurs that include Gorgosaurus from Alberta, the bumpy-snouted Alioramus from Mongolia, and the iconic T. rex. The new family tree, as well as where the fossils were uncovered, create an updated picture of how tyrannosaurs evolved over 20 million years. 'It is a pivotal species in understanding the evolutionary success of T. rex and its relatives,' says University College London paleontologist Cassius Morrison, who was not involved in the new study. In particular, the new analysis reveals how tyrannosaurs evolved into many different species as the carnivores wandered into new landscapes. Sometime around the time of Khankhuuluu, Voris and colleagues propose, such small, slender tyrannosaurs were dispersing from prehistoric Asia into North America over a land bridge. 'Tyrannosaurs evolved into those giant apex predators and diversified very rapidly across North America,' Voris says, the first of what Zelenitsky calls 'two explosions of tyrannosaurs.' Some of the predators remained slender and chased smaller prey while others became bulkier and hunted larger dinosaurs, and they roamed habitats from southern California to New Jersey. (See how these fierce dinos evolved in our pages over 100 years.) The new study suggests, however, that the direct ancestors of T. rex, did not evolve in North America. Voris and colleagues propose that around 79 and 78 million years ago at least one lineage of tyrannosaurs ventured back into Asia. The researchers know this because of the close relationship of two tyrannosaur groups that at a glance might seem very different. When tyrannosaurs returned to Asia during this period and underwent their second explosion, one group was relatively slender and had long snouts decorated with small horns, like the 'Pinocchio' dinosaur Qianzhousaurus. The other group began to grow larger, with deep skulls adept at crushing bones, like Tarbosaurus. T. rex evolved from ancestors in the second group, a lineage of bone-crushers that once again crossed the land bridge back into North America between 73 and 67 million years ago—making T. rex a new form of predator that arrived from another continent. 'The new analysis provides strong support that the ancestors of T. rex evolved from a group of tyrannosaurs that ventured back to Asia after they had undergone an evolutionary radiation in North America,' Morrison says. Ultimately, the study suggests that the rise of one of Earth's largest carnivores was due to a back-and-forth between North America and Asia that took place over a period of 20 million years. Had a devastating asteroid impact not abruptly ended the Cretaceous 66 million years ago, tyrannosaurs would have undoubtedly kept changing.
Wales Online
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Bryce Dallas Howard addresses her Jurassic World future
Bryce Dallas Howard addresses her Jurassic World future The 44-year-old actress starred alongside Chris Pratt as Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World trilogy Bryce Dallas Howard (Image: (Credit too long, see caption) ) Bryce Dallas Howard thinks "the door is always open" for her to return to the Jurassic World series. The 44-year-old actress starred alongside Chris Pratt as Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World trilogy from the 2015 eponymous flick until 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion, and with the franchise set for a soft reboot in July with Jurassic World: Rebirth, Howard has insisted she could come back to the series at some point in the future. Speaking with Screen Rant, she said: "I think that the door is always open. "It was so cool with Dominion getting to have the legacy cast back and working in the franchise. But the most important thing is that this is a story about dinosaurs and what if dinosaurs and human beings coexisted? It is not about a specific set of characters. "So, for myself as a fan, I am so excited for Jurassic World: Rebirth. I'm going to be there in the theater opening day, and they have an amazing cast. I mean, Mahershala Ali, Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey. It's going to be absolutely fantastic. So I'm excited." In Jurassic World: Rebirth, Zora Bennett (Johansson) leads a covert team racing to stop a rogue biotech group unleashing weaponised dinosaurs across the globe. Article continues below As prehistoric chaos spreads, she must confront a dark secret tied to the original Jurassic legacy. Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards previously teased he wanted to revitalise the Jurassic Park franchise's "horror" elements with his film. He explained to Vanity Fair: "Jurassic Park [the original 1993 movie] is a horror film in the witness protection program. Most people don't think of it like that. "We all went to see it as kids. But I was scared s*******, to be honest, when I was at the cinema watching the T. rex attack. "It's one of the most well-directed scenes in cinema history, so the bar's really high to come on board and try and do this." The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director added: "There's something very primal that's buried deep inside everybody. As mammals, we evolved [with] this fear of the bigger animal that's going to come one day and maybe kill us or our family. "The second we see it happening onscreen, you're like, 'I knew it ... We had it too good for too long.'" Edwards revealed he was inspired by movie franchises like Alien and Star Wars to create a scary new dinosaur for Jurassic World: Rebirth. He said: "When you make a creature, you get a big, massive pot and you pour in your favorite monsters from other films and books ... Article continues below "Some [Star Wars beast] Rancor went in there, some H.R. Giger [Alien designer] went in there, a little T. rex went in there ..."
Perth Now
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Bryce Dallas Howard addresses her Jurassic World future
Bryce Dallas Howard thinks 'the door is always open' for her to return to the Jurassic World series. The 44-year-old actress starred alongside Chris Pratt as Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World trilogy from the 2015 eponymous flick until 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion, and with the franchise set for a soft reboot in July with Jurassic World: Rebirth, Howard has insisted she could come back to the series at some point in the future. Speaking with Screen Rant, she said: 'I think that the door is always open. 'It was so cool with Dominion getting to have the legacy cast back and working in the franchise. But the most important thing is that this is a story about dinosaurs and what if dinosaurs and human beings coexisted? It is not about a specific set of characters. 'So, for myself as a fan, I am so excited for Jurassic World: Rebirth. I'm going to be there in the theater opening day, and they have an amazing cast. I mean, Mahershala Ali, Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey. It's going to be absolutely fantastic. So I'm excited.' In Jurassic World: Rebirth, Zora Bennett (Johansson) leads a covert team racing to stop a rogue biotech group unleashing weaponised dinosaurs across the globe. As prehistoric chaos spreads, she must confront a dark secret tied to the original Jurassic legacy. Jurassic World: Rebirth director Gareth Edwards previously teased he wanted to revitalise the Jurassic Park franchise's 'horror' elements with his film. He explained to Vanity Fair: 'Jurassic Park [the original 1993 movie] is a horror film in the witness protection program. Most people don't think of it like that. 'We all went to see it as kids. But I was scared s*******, to be honest, when I was at the cinema watching the T. rex attack. 'It's one of the most well-directed scenes in cinema history, so the bar's really high to come on board and try and do this.' The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director added: 'There's something very primal that's buried deep inside everybody. As mammals, we evolved [with] this fear of the bigger animal that's going to come one day and maybe kill us or our family. 'The second we see it happening onscreen, you're like, 'I knew it … We had it too good for too long.'' Edwards revealed he was inspired by movie franchises like Alien and Star Wars to create a scary new dinosaur for Jurassic World: Rebirth. He said: 'When you make a creature, you get a big, massive pot and you pour in your favorite monsters from other films and books ... 'Some [Star Wars beast] Rancor went in there, some H.R. Giger [Alien designer] went in there, a little T. rex went in there …'
