Find the oldest relative of T.rex

Guanlong wucaii is the oldest ancestor of T.rex.( Photo: Zhongda Zhang / IVPP )

Researchers claim to have found the ancestor of the ferocious T.rex. The oldest fossil of the tyrannosaur dinosaur is 160 million years old.

The team was surprised to learn that this 3 meter long dinosaur has a colorful crest on its head. The discovery could help to understand how long-tailed short-legged dinosaurs evolved into T.rex in 100 million years. The new creature was found in the basin of Junggar, an area rich in dinosaur fossils in China's remote northwest.

A local worker happened to find two dinosaur skeletons, one of the 12-year-old adult and one of the six-year-old. Both skeletons are quite intact. The group named this late Jurassic dinosaur Guanlong wucaii , taken from Chinese as a crested dragon.

Professor James Clark, a paleontologist at George Washington University, said: "When we looked closely we found out that it was a relative of T.rex. So they became the most primitive relatives ever. known of dinosaur tyrannosaur ".

Tyrannosaur is a predatory group of predators in the late Cretaceous period. That era, about 65-100 million years ago, marks the last chapter before this group becomes extinct. At that time, T.rex was reigning. The most famous member of the tyrannosaur family, which is huge in size up to 9-13 m, big teeth and tiny front limbs with horror claws, has become the main character in many Hollywood movies. .

Professor Clark describes G. wucaii: " The most striking thing is that it has a crest on the top of the head. This is quite unusual for predators. This crest must be quite striking in color and is a type of display. "

Animals also share some characteristics with T.rex such as sharp teeth, short front limbs and only run on 2 hind legs. But G. wucaii is strikingly different at a much smaller size - 3m. In addition, the more primitive skull and pelvic trait show that it is an intermediate animal between tyrannosaur and coelurosaur - the more ancient dinosaur group and ancestor of modern birds. Researchers hope to discover that will reveal the early stage in the evolution of tyrannosaur .

" Guanlong tells us how the small coelurosaurian ancestor of tyrannosaur evolved to become a giant T.rex nearly 100 million years later ," Clark said.