Small ‘cousins’ of T. rex may have actually been growing teenagers
Small but fearsome dinosaurs once thought to be pygmy kin of Tyrannosaurus rex instead may have been mere juveniles of the iconic species, new analyses of fossils suggest. The finding bolsters the case that teenage tyrannosaurs had different dining habits than their bone-crushing elders, researchers report January 1 in Science Advances. T. rex fossils were first discovered more than a century ago. Paleontologists estimate that the largest individuals of the species measured more than 12 meters from snout to tip of the tail. The dinosaurs had teeth about the size and shape of bananas, likely tipped the scales at more than 8,000 kilograms and may have lived to be 30 years or older. In the 1940s, paleontologists unearthed a fossil skull that, although similar to that of a T. rex, was about half the size and had teeth shaped more like daggers than bananas. After detailed analyses of a similar yet more complete specimen that was dug up in the early 2000s from rocks...