Scientists discovered the fossil remains of a tyrannosaurus embryo, which would have lived on Earth 70 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada. The baby tyrannosaurus skull is unexpectedly the size of a mouse, hence we now know that this gigantic species began its existence at a small scale.
Researchers found a tiny claw of a tyrannosaurus in 2017, prompting them to study a baby tyrannosaurus jaw whose discovery occurred in 1983. Both objects helped scientists learn more about the tyrannosaurus rex, its development and its life in the Earth.
“These are very rare finds, the first of their kind in the world,” paleontologist Gregory Funston of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and author of the study informed Live Science. “Juvenile tyrannosaurs of any kind are exceedingly rare, and we’ve never found any bones that we suspected might be embryos, until now.”
The tyrannosaurus jaw still has eight small teeth. Since it was found embedded in the rocks, the researchers scanned it with a particle accelerator: to facilitate retrieving an image of the fossil without removing it from the rock. “It looks surprisingly like other juvenile tyrannosaurid jaws,” Funston said. “It has a deep groove on the inside and a distinct chin, which are both features that distinguish tyrannosaurs from other meat-eating dinosaurs.”
Potential discovery of 66.5 million year old baby Tyrannosaurus rex fossil could solve puzzle of what it looked like https://t.co/JQibMrpJv0 pic.twitter.com/mysycQvVoO
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 30, 2018
The teeth are not fully developed, which is why paleontologists believe it is a tyrannosaurus embryo that died before hatching. However, they have yet to find any remains of tyrannosaurus eggs. This could be because this species of dinosaur laid eggs with a very soft shell that does not fossilize well. “We don’t have any direct evidence of these soft-shelled eggs yet, but these clues tell us we should start looking,” Funston said.
