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New research shows that Tyrannosaurus Rex’s direct ancestors would have arrived in North America after crossing the overpass from Asia. The report is the latest to consider a fierce debate among paleontologists about the origins of the dinosaur king.
The team led by Cassius Morrison, a doctoral student in paleontology at the University of London or UCL, used mathematical modeling to T. They concluded that the Rex precursor likely arrived in North America after crossing the Bering Strait between modern Siberia and Alaska.
The discovery track, which includes previous studies suggested by T. Rex, was more closely linked to the large Asian carnivorous turbosaurus compared to top North American predators such as Daspletosaurus, Morrison said.
At the time, the area was home to temperate rainforests and had a climate somewhat similar to today’s British Columbia, Morrison told CNN on Tuesday.
T. Rex’s Ancestors – Tyrannosaurids- Morrison said, like apex predators like the Lions, there would have been fewer numbers in the environment compared to the herbivorous dinosaurs they preyed on.
“And because they are few, they are less likely to be kept in the fossil record,” he said.
Faced with this lack of evidence, Morrison and his co-authors instead used mathematical models that incorporate existing fossil records and T. Rex family tree, as well as data from climate and environmental conditions, Morrison said.
Modeling also explains the gaps in the fossil record. This means that it can be updated if new discoveries are made in future research, he added. For example, Morrison said the findings of the new study suggest that these T. rex ancestor fossils may still remain undiscovered in Asia.
The team is also T. We discover that tyrannosaurus such as Rex experienced rapid size during periods of falling global temperatures, suggesting that these dinosaurs can thrive in cooler climates, perhaps thanks to feathers and the fact that they are warmer and bloody.
Another group of other giant meat-eating dinosaurs known as Carcharodontosaurids, also came after they became extinct and left a “vacuum at the top of the food chain,” according to a UCL news release on Tuesday.
This growth was when the dinosaurs were extinct, T. Rex meant that, according to the release, he was able to weigh 9 metres tons, “almost the same as a very large African elephant or a light tank.”
Research co-author Charlie Scheller, who received his Masters in Earth Science and was a short-lived doctoral student at UCL, said: “The findings shed light on how the largest tyrannosaurus appeared in North and South America during the Cretaceous period. (period) And how and why they grew so well by the end of the dinosaur age. ”
“It is likely they have grown to such a huge size to replace the comparable massive Carcharodontosaurid theropods that were extinct about 90 million years ago,” Scherer said.
“This extinction likely removed any ecological barriers that prevented tyrannosaurus from growing to such size.”
Although Steve Bursatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, was not involved in the study, the paper told CNN that it was a great academic task of forensic tracking of meat-eating dinosaurs over time, comparing its evolution to climate change.
“Even the very largest and most dominant dinosaurs were affected by the weather. It appears that Tyrannosaurus could have grown independently and large when cooler climates promoted an increase in size,” he said.
“It was easy to grow when the temperature was cool. The dinosaur king was not destined to rule, but the climate helped,” added Bursatte.
This study was published in the Journal Royal Society Open Science.