Chinese scientists find Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily fossils at the southernmost tip of China

2024-05-21 09:38 Author: Wei Mengjia People's Daily Overseas Edition Editor in charge: Chen Wei

Summary: (Reporter Wei Mengjia) Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily is a predatory theropod dinosaur with a large difference in size, which is a dominant group in the middle and late Cretaceous, of which Tyrannosaurus rex is an important member. Researchers said that this is the first discovery of large theropods in Sanshui Basin, and it is also the southernmost Tyrannosaurus superfamily fossil found in China so far.

According to Xinhua News Agency (reporter Wei Mengjia), Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily is a kind of predatory theropod dinosaur with a large difference in size. It is a dominant group in the middle and late Cretaceous, of which Tyrannosaurus rex is an important member. The Chinese scientific research team recently published a research achievement in the international academic journal Cretaceous Research, which classified a number of late Cretaceous large theropod dinosaur teeth found in Sanshui Basin, Guangdong Province, into the Tyrannosaurus superfamily. Researchers said that this is the first discovery of large theropods in Sanshui Basin, and it is also the southernmost Tyrannosaurus superfamily fossil found in China so far.

This research was jointly completed by Xing Lida's research group of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Sihui Museum of Guangdong Province, Sun Yat sen University, Guangdong Zhongda Institute of Deep Geosciences and other institutional teams. Xing Lida, associate professor of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), introduced that Guangdong is an important production area of various Cretaceous fossils in China, of which dinosaur fossils are mainly found in Nanxiong Basin and Heyuan area of Guangdong, while there are few dinosaur fossil records in Sanshui Basin. The fossils discovered this time are 4 teeth, the age is the latest stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 70 million to 66 million years ago.

Xing Lida said that the body type of Tyrannosaurus superfamily varies greatly, including Tyrannosaurus and its more primitive relatives. The Tyrannosaurus rex of the Late Cretaceous, which can exceed 12 meters in length, is the largest and most famous species among them, but the Qiqidilong of the Early Cretaceous is only about 1.5 meters in length. According to the conservative estimate of the tooth fossils found this time, the body length of the tooth owner is about 5 to 6 meters or larger.

According to the researchers, most theropod dinosaurs have crescent or banana shaped teeth, which are wide in the middle and converge to both sides, forming a bulge at the end of convergence. Among the teeth found this time, 3 were found in Sihui City, and the teeth were relatively complete, with the length of crowns exceeding 6 cm. The other one was found in Guangzhou City, which was a 3.3 cm long tooth fragment. All teeth have consistent morphological characteristics, including serrations on the edge of teeth, low density of serrations, smooth enamel, etc., which conform to the teeth characteristics of Tyrannosaurus rex.

It is reported that there have been few records of late Cretaceous large theropods in South China. Previously, only the tracks of Qianzhoulong and Tyrannosaurus of the superfamily Tyrannosaurus rex were found in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, and teeth of Tyrannosaurus rex were found in Heyuan, Guangdong. The fossil record of dinosaur eggs of the late Cretaceous in Sanshui Basin also shows that there are dinosaurs such as Traodontosaurus, Egg Stealer and Duck billed dinosaurs active in this area. "The teeth of Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily discovered this time and they formed a dinosaur biota, which indicates that before the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, the dinosaur biota was probably still quite prosperous in South China," Xing Lida said.

(Editor in charge: Li Fang, Hao Mengjia)

key word: Chaoke, Xing Lida, China University of Geosciences, Qianzhou, Nanxiong Basin

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