prince

Scientists have unveiled a previously unknown tyrannosaur species that fundamentally changes our understanding of how the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex evolved. The newly identified dinosaur, named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis - meaning "Dragon Prince of Mongolia" - represents a critical evolutionary link between small prehistoric predators and the colossal apex hunters that would dominate the Late Cretaceous period. The fossils, which sat in a Mongolian museum collection for five decades after their discovery in the early 1970s, were initially misidentified as belonging to an existing species called Alectrosaurus. When PhD student Jared Voris from the University of Calgary examined the bones in 2023, he recognized distinctive tyrannosaur-like features that set them apart. "I remember getting a text from him - that he thought