London, April 1 (IANS) A new dinosaur has been identified from fossils dug up in China and has been nicknamed ‘T-Rex’s cousin’.
The dinosaur has been officially named ‘Zhuchengtyrannus Magnus’ in honour of Zhucheng, the city where the fossils were found.
The gigantic creature roamed North America and east Asia between about 65 million and 99 million years ago.
Researchers led by David Hone from the University College Dublin discovered fragments of fossils from the meat eater in a so-called dinosaur quarry in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, reports the Telegraph newspaper.
Known as a theropod because it walked on its two hind legs, the dinosaur is said to be a close relative of T-Rex – Tyrannosaurus Rex, one of the largest land carnivores.
It was identified from skull, jaw bone and pieces of teeth. Based on their size it measured about 11 metres long, stood about four metres tall and weighed close to six tonnes.
Hone, from University College’s School of Biology and Environmental Science, spent three years at the Shandong site before joining the Dublin College.
‘It’s another big T-Rex and these things don’t turn up every day. It’s one of the biggest predators of all time,’ he said.
‘It’s the first super-gigantic T-Rex relative discovered in quite a long time. It would be top of the food chain because it would be the biggest thing out there feeding, but there are a couple of others out there the same size.’
T-Rex’s cousin had a three feet long skull and rounded, chisel-like, bone-crushing teeth 3.5 inches long.
