Recently described fossils of a carnivorous dinosaur that terrorized the east coast of the United States 85 million years ago are believed to have belonged to a cousin of the species Tyrannosaurs rex.
This predator had longer arms, thicker legs, and much larger claws than T. rex. The fossils were found in what is now New Jersey, which was part of an isolated land mass on the east coast of North America known as the Appalachians, which formed 480 million years ago.
North America was divided into two distinct parts during most of the second half of the Cretaceous, which ended 66 million years ago. The western part is called Laramidia, and the eastern part is called the Appalachians.
Laramidia was home to Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops. Much less is known about the Appalachians. Scientists believe this may be due to the fact that the geographic conditions of Laramidia were more conducive to the formation of sediment-rich fossil deposits.
“Many people believe that all tyrannosaurs had to develop a certain set of characteristics in order to become top predators. Our fossils suggest they evolved into giant predators in many ways, as they lack key leg or arm features that could be associated with West North American or Asian tyrannosaurs.”- Chase Doran Braunstein, study co-author.
The discovered species does not yet have its own scientific name, and paleontologists refer to it as the tyrannosauroid of Merchantville.
Tyrannosaurus rex may not have been a solitary predator, but instead hunted its prey in packs like wolves, according to new research. The idea that tyrannosaurs might have been social carnivores was first suggested about two decades ago when more than a dozen dinosaurs were found buried together in a dig in Alberta, Canada. A second mass grave was subsequently found in Montana
Despite the growing body of evidence, many experts dispute this idea, arguing that dinosaurs simply did not have the mental faculties required for complex social interactions.