A diminutive new tyrannosaur from the top of the world

Tyrannosaurid theropods were dominant terrestrial predators in Asia and western North America during the last of the Cretaceous. The known diversity of the group has dramatically increased in recent years with new finds, but overall understanding of tyrannosaurid ecology and evolution is based almos...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-03, Vol.9 (3), p.e91287-e91287
Main Authors: Fiorillo, Anthony R, Tykoski, Ronald S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptability
Adaptation, Physiological
Albertosaurus
Animals
Biodiversity
Biology and Life Sciences
Body Size
Cladistic analysis
Cretaceous
Cretaceous period
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs - classification
Dinosaurs - growth & development
Dinosaurs - physiology
Earth Sciences
Ecology
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Evolution
Fossils
Geological Phenomena
Gorgosaurus
Museums
Paleontology
Phylogeny
Polar environments
Predators
Sarcophagi
Science
Teeth
Terrestrial environments
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosaurus rex
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Tyrannosaurid theropods were dominant terrestrial predators in Asia and western North America during the last of the Cretaceous. The known diversity of the group has dramatically increased in recent years with new finds, but overall understanding of tyrannosaurid ecology and evolution is based almost entirely on fossils from latitudes at or below southern Canada and central Asia. Remains of a new, relatively small tyrannosaurine were recovered from the earliest Late Maastrichtian (70-69Ma) of the Prince Creek Formation on Alaska's North Slope. Cladistic analyses show the material represents a new tyrannosaurine species closely related to the highly derived Tarbosaurus+Tyrannosaurus clade. The new taxon inhabited a seasonally extreme high-latitude continental environment on the northernmost edge of Cretaceous North America. The discovery of the new form provides new insights into tyrannosaurid adaptability, and evolution in an ancient greenhouse Arctic.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0091287