Tiny T-Rex

A man-sized T-Rex? Wow! This is way cool. More here.

Fossil hunters have unearthed the remains of a man-sized forerunner to the colossal Tyrannosaurus rex from an ancient lake bed in northeastern China.

The remarkable discovery has allowed dinosaur experts to piece together a picture of a diminutive but formidable predator that was so finely tuned to killing they describe it as "Jaws on legs".

The beast, named Raptorex kriegsteini, roamed the Earth 130m years ago, tens of millions of years before the giant T-rex became the most fearsome predator in history.

The finding has stunned palaeontologists because the skeleton resembles the larger tyrannosaurs in every respect except its size. Measurements of bones recovered from the site reveal that the new species was one hundredth the size of T-rex.

Analyses of the remains by researchers at the University of Chicago and the American Museum of Natural History in New York revealed the dinosaur to be a juvenile of five or six years old, measuring nearly 3m from nose to tail and weighing only 60kg (nine stone).

I wonder if I should tell Randall Monroe about it. He's already got a bit of a thing with Raptors. Best keep it to myself, I suppose.

EDIT: Someone's already published a link on the xkcd forum. Sorry Randall.


pic via Wired