Pint-sized ancestor of Tyrannosarus rex discovered in Argentina

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t-dinosaur_1803223cBy the Telegraph.co.uk

The ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex who lived when dinosaurs were the underdogs 230 million years ago, has been disovered by scientists in Argentina.

Eodromaeus was only four feet long from nose to tail-tip and weighed just 10 to 15 pounds.

Nonetheless the two-legged dinosaur predated the biggest and most ferocious land predators that ever lived, including T. rex.

Fossil bones of two of the creatures were unearthed side-by-side at a desert site known as the Valley of the Moon in northern Argentina.

Researchers pieced together a near-complete skeleton of the new species which they described today in the journal Science.

Study leader Dr Paul Sereno, from the University of Chicago, US, said: "It really is the earliest look we have at the long line of meat eaters that would ultimately culminate in Tyrannosaurus rex near the end of the dinosaur era.

"Who could foretell what evolution had in store for the descendants of this pint-sized, fleet-footed predator?"

The site where Eodromaeus was found, in the foothills of the Andes, has already..
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