T rex's creepy cousin: Terrifying new dinosaur with huge claws and serrated razor sharp teeth is...

[Kamal900]

T rex's creepy cousin: Terrifying new dinosaur with huge claws and serrated razor sharp teeth is unearthed in the Australian outback

• Aussie team dug up new dinosaur remains in Winton Formation, Queensland
  The fragments suggest the finding is a theropod - the same clade as the T. Rex
  Analysis of the bones show similarities to the predatory Australovenator genus
  But as this specimen is bigger scientists think it could be a new species entirely

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 00:01 GMT, 15 January 2020 | UPDATED: 00:06 GMT, 15 January 2020

Dinosaur remains uncovered from central Queensland in Australia could be the first fragments of a vicious new dinosaur species never seen before.

The 93 million year-old remains, comprising bones from the creature's hands, feet and spine, suggest the creature was a relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurs Rex.

It was likely a megaraptorid, a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur similar to the Australovenator and the Tyrannosaurus genera of dinosaurs.

However, 3D analysis of the newly-found fragments, which were recovered from the rocky Winton Formation, show slight differences in size, suggesting it is indeed a new species.

The new megaraptor belonged to the same category of dinosaurs as the T-rex, known as theropods.



Pictured: 3D scans of tail vertebrae fragments from the possible new species, described as a megaraptorid by palaeontologists

Megaraptors weighed around half a ton and preyed on other dinosaurs, ripping them to shreds using its huge hands and serrated blade like teeth.

'Megaraptors had broad feet which distributed their body weight over a greater area than a much larger theropod such as Allosaurus whose feet were of a similar size but supported an animal of 1-2 tonnes,' said lead researcher Dr Matt White, a palaeontologist at the University of New England, New South Wales.

This weight distribution, which is seen in wading birds today, provided superior agility over its prey in the coastal rivers and soft marsh environments.

Megaraptors were around 23 feet long and 7 feet tall at the hip, with robust forearms, two hind legs and two lethal arms.

The new remains comprise two partial vertebrae – the only megaraptoid vertebrae known from Queensland – as well as three bones from hands and feet and other unidentifiable bone fragments.

Researchers believe this new species would have had two three digits at the end of each arm, two of which had huge curved claws.

The creature's teeth are often found at excavation sites of the herbivorous sauropods in the Winton region , indicating the predator often hunted the long-necked beasts.


Pictured: an artist's impression of the plant-eating dinosaur Diamantinasaurus being attacked by the newly-discovered Australoventor


The dig site in Winton Formation, Queensland, described as Australia's dinosaur graveyard

'[Sauropods] are the most common plant eater found there with three different species discovered so far including Diamantinasaurus matildae, Savannasaurus elliottorum and Wintonotitan wattsi,' Dr White said.

The unfortunate sauropod prey was caught with outstretched arms and grappled and punctured with the claws, kicked, and bitten with razor-sharp teeth.

'Its feet have claws similar to flightless bird the Cassowary which are known to defend themselves by kicking,' Dr White said.

Some of the remains resembled the skeletal elements of Australovenator wintonensis, Australia's most complete theropod dinosaur.

A. wintonensis was a medium-sized predator, approximately 16 to 19 feet long.

But this new discovery is slightly larger than A. wintonensis and shows slight variation – suggesting another species entirely.

The new dinosaur is way smaller than its fellow theropod, the T. rex, which was around 40 feet long and 12 feet tall at the hips.

Researchers identified the partial remains near the town of Winton, central Queensland, dubbed the 'dinosaur capital of Australia'.

The Winton Formation is a thick sequence of sedimentary rocks in the Great Artesian Basin and a graveyard of dinosaur remains.

Each year, the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, a non-profit organisation and museum local to Winton, holds dinosaur digs near the town.

In 2017, the team discovered the site of the new find by chance while waiting for another site to dry out after rare rain.

'The site was just littered with broken up pieces of bone which didn't really resemble any complete bones so we marked the site and returned in 2018 to collect the surface material and excavate the site,' said dig coordinator Bob Elliott.

'Although there was no additional remains below the surface I was amazed that what we found was only the second fragmentary theropod discovered in the area,' said Dr White.

Winton is also home to the world's only recorded evidence of a dinosaur stampede.

At Lark Quarry Conservation Park there are 3,300 stampeding footprints immortalised in stone that are more than 95 million years old.

The research was carried out by palaeontologists from the Palaeoscience Research Centre at the University of New England, Swinburne University, and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in Winton QLD.

The study of the remains has been published in Royal Society Open Science.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...n-outback.html

[Red Pill]

Let's just hope it's not another of those fluffy feathered dinosaurs...

[Kamal900]

Let's just hope it's not another of those fluffy feathered dinosaurs...

Why not? In my opinion, fluffy dinosaurs are more scarier and cooler than their naked counterparts, and it's scientifically proven that many dinosaurs, especially theropods, at them. Birds are dinosaurs themselves, so it would make sense for their non-avian counterparts to have em.

[Red Pill]

I know that many of them had feathers, perhaps even T-rex, but I don't like them. Question of tastes I guess. To me reptiles are much more 'alien' and scary looking than birds. Theropods were just as deadly with feathers, but they reminds me of giant toothed turkeys or chickens. A little bit like a soldier trained and armed with the deadliest weapons, but dressed as a drag queen... I have even seen a reconstruction of a T-rex with what looks like a toupee, maybe it was a Trumposaurus... but it's election year so maybe I shouldn't be surprised

[1GiantLeapForMankind]

To the other dinosaurs it would have been like this, skip to 1:28 in, but they didnt have guns, would have been a bloodbath.

[1GiantLeapForMankind]

Older news (21 February 2019) but a Tiny T-rex was found: Article on BBC

A newly discovered relative of Tyrannosaurus rex stood just over a metre tall at the hip, a study shows.

The diminutive tyrannosaur reveals crucial new information about how T. rex established itself as a dominant carnivore in North America.

The researchers estimate that Moros intrepidus was about the size of a modern mule deer, weighing about 78kg. It was seven years old when it died and was almost fully grown.

Although it was comparatively lightweight, it was probably very fast on its feet. "These adaptations, together with advanced sensory capabilities, are the mark of a formidable predator. It could easily have run down prey, while avoiding confrontation with the top predators of the day," said Dr Zanno.

"Although the earliest Cretaceous tyrannosaurs were small, their predatory specialisations meant that they were primed to take advantage of new opportunities when warming temperatures, rising sea-level and shrinking ranges restructured ecosystems at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.

"We now know it took them less than 15 million years to rise to power."

[Kamal900]

Older news (21 February 2019) but a Tiny T-rex was found: Article on BBC

A newly discovered relative of Tyrannosaurus rex stood just over a metre tall at the hip, a study shows.

The diminutive tyrannosaur reveals crucial new information about how T. rex established itself as a dominant carnivore in North America.

The researchers estimate that Moros intrepidus was about the size of a modern mule deer, weighing about 78kg. It was seven years old when it died and was almost fully grown.

Although it was comparatively lightweight, it was probably very fast on its feet. "These adaptations, together with advanced sensory capabilities, are the mark of a formidable predator. It could easily have run down prey, while avoiding confrontation with the top predators of the day," said Dr Zanno.

"Although the earliest Cretaceous tyrannosaurs were small, their predatory specialisations meant that they were primed to take advantage of new opportunities when warming temperatures, rising sea-level and shrinking ranges restructured ecosystems at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.

"We now know it took them less than 15 million years to rise to power."

They also established that the so called "nannotyranous" is nothing more than T-Rex in their teenage years as well:
https://earthsky.org/earth/tyrannosa...-teenage-years