RE: Old new tyrannosauroid?

["Mikko K. Haaramo" <mikko.haaramo@helsinki.fi>]

Aha!

Should have followed link to Natural History Museum's site....

Published in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Not yet in the "Early view" listing... :( (aaaarrrrgghhhhhh!!!!)

--Mikko H.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu [mailto:owner-DINOSAUR@usc.edu] On Behalf
> Of Mikko K. Haaramo
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 10:43 AM
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Old new tyrannosauroid?
> 
> --A reference to the publication would have been nice (Nature?).--
> 
> Just noticed this on the BBC news:
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8340922.stm
> 
> 
> Oldest T. rex relative identified
> 
> Scientists have identified the most ancient fossil relative of the
> predatory dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex.
> 
> The new addition to T. rex's clan is known from a 30cm-long skull
> uncovered during excavations in Gloucestershire in the 1900s.
> 
> The well-preserved fossil is now held in London's Natural History
> Museum.
> 
> A British-German team has now uncovered evidence linking it to what may
> be the most famous dinosaur family of all.
> 
> The dinosaur, named Proceratosaurus, lived about 165m years ago, during
> the middle Jurassic Period.
> 
> The two-legged, meat-eater would have measured about 3m long and
> weighed up to 50 or 60kg.
> 
> The palaeontologists used computed tomography (CT) techniques to
> generate a 3D image of the delicate skull to investigate its internal
> structure in meticulous detail.
> 
> Dr Angela Milner, associate keeper of palaeontology at the Natural
> History Museum, told BBC News: "This is a unique specimen. It is the
> only one of its kind known in the world."
> 
> She added: "It was quite a surprise when our analysis showed we had the
> oldest known relative of T. rex.
> 
> "Fossils collected a century ago can now be studied again with the
> benefit of much greater knowledge of dinosaurs from around the world."
> 
> Originally described in 1910 as a new species of Megalosaurus, the
> fossil was presented to the museum in 1942.
> 
> The skull was unearthed during excavations for a reservoir close to
> Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire.
> 
> Televisual representation of Tyrannosaurus rex (BBC)
> T. rex lived during the Cretaceous Period
> 
> Dr Milner said that despite obvious differences between the skulls of
> Proceratosaurus and T.rex - such as their divergent sizes - the two
> shared many similarities.
> 
> "If you look at the animal (Proceratosaurus) in detail, it has the same
> kinds of windows in the side of the skull for increasing the jaw
> muscles," she told BBC News.
> 
> "It has the same kinds of teeth - particularly at the front of the
> jaws. They're small teeth and almost banana-shaped, which are just the
> kind of teeth T. rex has."
> 
> "Inside the skull, which we were able to look at using CT scanning,
> there are lots of internal air spaces. Tyrannosaurus had those as
> well."
> 
> Although it has attracted much interest because of its exquisite
> preservation, it has not been closely studied until now, thus, its link
> to the tyrannosaurs remained undiscovered.
> 
> "This is still one of the best-preserved dinosaur skulls found in
> Europe," said co-author Dr Oliver Rauhut from the Bavarian State
> Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich.
> 
> "It is really surprising that it has received so little attention since
> its original description."
> 
> 
> Cheers!!
> 
> ***********************************************************
> 
> Mikko K. Haaramo, M.Sc.
> 
> Vertebrate paleontologist
> Department of Geology
> P.O.Box 64 [Gustaf HÃllstrÃmin katu 2a]
> FIN-00014  University of Helsinki
> Finland
> ***********************************************************
> 
>