Scientists have discovered a new species of tyrannosaur that is called Pinocchio Rex because of it's long snout. It is believed by experts that it was a fearsome carnivore that lived in Asia during the Cretaceous period. Only one fossils have been previously unearthed to prove the existence of this species. But, recently scientists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the University of Edinburgh have found a fossil of this animal that was largely intact and amazingly well-preserved. Because the team of paleontologists was able to find this important fossil, the existence of the tyrannosaur species was proven. Experts, such as Dr. Steve Brusatte at the University of Edinburgh, are able to create a new branch of the tyrannosaur family, and they expect more animals to be added as more discoveries are made.
This article reminded me of watching "Your Inner Fish", because those scientists were also looking for a fossil that would help others to better understand the past world. Though this dinosaur was not a transitional fossil like Tiktaalik, it did help scientists understand the Cretaceous period better. Every new fossil that scientists find is another piece to the puzzle that helps them to understand the world, past and present.
NOS Themes:
Science is collaborative
Science is based on evidence
Link to the article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140507100421.htm
I think this topic is very interesting so I did more research about the new Pinocchio Rex. An article in National Geographic described the dinosaur as 29 feet long, 1,800 pounds, and a lot smaller than the T. Rex. The Pinocchio Rex is only the third dinosaur fossil to be found that has a long snout. Before this discovery scientists thought the long snouted dinos were simply young and hadn't grown into their noses yet. However, upon adding the Pinocchio Rex to the fossil record, it has become clear that long snouted dinosaurs are a distinct species.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140507-pinocchio-rex-dinosaurs-tyrannosaurus-science-new-species/
Cool article! I thought that this waas really interesting and decided to do a little extra research. According to scientist Steve Brusatte, the snout of the Pinocchio rex is 35% longer than any other dinosaur is size. Because of its long face, science suspect that the behavior of this dinosaur might differ from its cousin the T-rex. Also, the body of this long-noses dinosaur appeared to be leaner and less muscular allowing it to be quicker and more agile. Even though we are just learning about them, the Pinocchio rex may have been one of the top predators in Asis during its time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27296357
I thought this was a really cool article! They haven't discovered new dinosaurs in a while so this is interesting. I did some more research and I found that the Pinocchio Rex did have a long snout, but it also had a mouth full of long, skinny, pointy teeth which made it fearsome. “It has the familiar toothy grin of T. rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose. It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier" says Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh. He states that the T. Rex and P. Rex were both predators, but they were different types of predators, so they most likely lived in peace with each other.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/08/its-big-its-scary-its-called-pinocchio-rex/?tid=hp_mm