Oldest T Rex relative discovered in London

Dinosaur dynasty: Oldest T Rex relative discovered in London. Remains of the oldest-known relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex have been discovered, more than 100 years after being pulled out of a Gloucestershire reservoir.

The near-complete 11inch skull has been identified as a 165-million-year-old ancestor of the fearsome dinoaur, called Proceratosaurus.

It was unearthed in the vast collection of London's Natural History Museum, according to research published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society today.

The fossil skull of Proceratosaurus the oldest-known relative of T.rex, which lived 165 million years ago

Proceratosaurus was probably only around 9ft long and lived 100 million years earlier that the 40ft long T- Rex. This gives scientists important clues about the early stages of the evolution of these fearsome predators.

A team of British and German scientists used computed tomography (CT) techniques to generate X-rays and then a 3D image of the delicate skull remains. This meant they could study its internal structure in minute detail.

They found that its teeth, jaws and braincase all closely resemble the structures found in the gigantic predator.

‘It was quite a surprise when our analysis showed we had the oldest known relative of T.rex,’ said Museum dinosaur expert, Dr Angela Milner.

‘We care for over nine million fossils here at the Museum and this discovery highlights the importance of museum collections in current and future research. Fossils collected a century ago can now be studied again with the benefit of much greater knowledge of dinosaurs from around the world.’

Tyrannosaurus rex grew up to 40ft long, while its ancestor grew to 9ft

Some of the bones were still covered in rock and had to be carefully cleaned before the skull could be fully examined.

‘This is a very fragile skull,’ says Museum fossil expert, Scott More-Fay, ‘so removing the rock, especially from around the teeth, was a delicate and time-consuming task that had to be done under a microscope, using very fine tools.’

The skull was uncovered during excavations for a reservoir close to Minchinhampton in Gloucestershire. In 1910, it was described as a new species of Megalosaurus.

The fossil was presented to the Natural History Museum in 1922 by F L Bradley, but its links to the most famous dinosaur family of all remained undiscovered until now.

Tyrannosaurus rex lived around 67 to 65 million years ago at the end of the dinosaur era in the Cretaceous period, and is a member of a larger group, called Tyrannosauroidea, after its most famous member.

Dr Oliver Rauhut from the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology in Munich said: ‘This is still one of the best-preserved dinosaur skulls found in Europe. It is really surprising that it has received so little attention since its original description.’

And, there are many possibilities to discover and identify new species using techniques such as CT modelling, as Dr Rauhut explains: ‘I’m sure that many more tyrannosaurs are still out there to be found. I think we have just scratched the tip of the iceberg so far.’ dailymail