Latest news with #Tyrannosaur
Time of India
20-06-2025
- 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.
11-06-2025
- Science
New dinosaur species related to T. Rex discovered
Paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that was related to the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex. The dino fossils, two partial skeletons found in Gobi Desert in Mongolia in the 1970s, were recently reanalyzed after Jared Voris, a Ph.D student in the Department of Earth Energy and Environment at the University of Calgary, noticed them during a trip to Mongolia in 2023. A Mongolian paleontologist initially attributed the fossils to a meat-eating dinosaur called electrosaurus, Darla Zelenitsky, an associate professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Calgary, told ABC News. The fossils had not been "seriously" looked at that since then, she noted. But when Voris noticed them in a glass case at the Central Museum of Dinosaurs of Mongolia, he realized they had characteristics never before seen in a Tyrannosaurus species, he said. The skull, for instance, contained an air cavity near the nose. Large apex predators tend to have "completely solid" nose bonds, according to Voris. The way the toe bones attached to the rest of the leg was also different, Voris said. "We had recognized that this was something completely different," Voris said. The fossils were determined to belong to a new tyrannosaurid species after reexamination by the researchers, according to paper published Wednesday in Nature. The new species, named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, is a "relatively small" Tyrannosaur, Zelenitsky said. The specimen was likely about 1,700 pounds and 13 feet in length, making it an agile runner, Zelenitsky said. The specimen was an immediate relative of the Eutyrannosaurias, which originated in North America and included T. rex, the researchers said. It was also a close ancestor to the "massive, deep-snouted" Tyrannosaurini, as well as the much smaller and shallow-snouted Alioramini, according to researchers. The discovery sheds new light on the evolution of the tyrannosaur species and dispersal patterns in the late Cretaceous period. The new species is the "missing link" between the smaller Tyrannosaurs and massive apex predators like T. rex, which weighed up to 10,000 pounds, Zelenitsky said.
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I want to help': Somewhere Boy actor launches drama school in Bradford
A Bafta-nominated actor from Bradford has launched his own drama school to help working-class northern English talent access the TV and film industry. The West Yorkshire Workshop in Bradford was opened this week by 23-year-old Samuel Bottomley, who received a Bafta nod for his role in Channel 4's Somewhere Boy in 2023. He made his acting debut at nine, when he was plucked from a local church drama club to star in Paddy Considine's domestic violence drama Tyrannosaur. The courses, which will run on evenings and weekends, will feature tuition from Bottomley himself as well as from directors he has worked with, including Molly Manning Walker (How To Have Sex) and Penny Woolcock (Ackley Bridge). It is influenced by the Nottingham Television Workshop, which has been helping working-class young people get into acting since 1983, spawning the careers of the director Shane Meadows and actors including Vicky McClure and Samantha Morton. Asked about working-class access to the arts, Bottomley said: 'I feel like up north, or in Yorkshire, there's definitely a lack of it. So if we can do anything to change that, let's try.' He added: 'I want to help people and I want to keep busy because when you're not acting, you're not doing right much, other than auditioning.' Bottomley, who lives with his mum, a beauty therapist, just outside Bradford, said most other young actors he met on set had been to drama school or had connections in TV or film: 'There is a lot of people who have got family in the industry, or they've got, like, rich parents.' Once in the industry, working-class actors were often in danger of being typecast, he said: 'It bothered me, always getting auditioned for this 'Jack the lad' sort of bouncy, almost misunderstood young man … One thing you don't want to get is typecast.' He beamoaned having to 'tidy up' his Yorkshire accent when he started out: 'If you're a northern kid with an accent, you definitely feel out of place a little bit, especially with your accent, because you have to tidy it up as well quite a bit, so people can understand.' The proportion of working-class actors, musicians and writers has shrunk by half since the 1970s, according to the Office for National Statistics. Bafta-nominated actors are five times more likely to have attended a private school than the UK population, at 35%, the Sutton Trust found. Bottomley first heard of the Nottingham Television Workshop from another young actor, Jack O'Connell (Skins, SAS Rogue Heroes), with whom he worked on the 2012 British war drama Private Peaceful. 'He was a massive role model for me growing up when I met him, because he was working class as well,' said Bottomley. O'Connell told him about the Nottingham acting school and 'my ears pricked up straight away', he said. 'It would have been a great place for me to go. I've heard rave reviews from people that have been, so as I was getting older in the last couple of years, I always thought it would be cool to create something like a hub up north. 'I just thought the north needed some sort of hub where actors from all around the north can come together and have this same thing that they had in Nottingham, which is like a proper, cool vibe – normal people that just want to be actors, coming together and just sharpening their tools and staying sharp and staying in the game. And communicating with other people, which is a massive one for me.' Fees are £15 for two hours for teenagers, and weekend sessions for adults over two days cost £80. 'I'm trying to keep it as affordable as possible', he said, adding that if people couldn't afford to come, he would try to find a way for them to join for free.
