There were probably three different species of Tyrannosaurs, according to new estimates

There was not a single Tyrannosaurus in the family of these terrible dinosaurs, but probably two other related species besides the well-known Tyrannosaurus Rex (better known as T.rex), according to new estimates by scientists who made a thorough anatomical comparison to date. skeletal fossils found and which seem to refer to three different species.

The new analysis identified differences in the femur, other bones and teeth, suggesting that paleontology textbooks may need to be revised to re-categorize T.rex as three distinct species. To date, T.rex is the only recognized species of the Tyrannosaurus group (genus).

Researchers led by paleontologist Gregory Paul, who published in the journal Evolutionary Biology, analyzed the fossils of 37 Tyrannosaurs found in North America at different geological strata, so they come from different eras.

The conclusion of the scientists is that the observed anatomical differences are not due to the different sex or the different age of the dinosaurs, but to the fact that the Tyrannosaurs gradually evolved from a common ancestor and over time they differentiated, to the point that they could be considered as separate species. of the same genus (in the way, for example, that in the human genus Homo Homo sapiens was only one of its species).

It is thus suggested that, in addition to T.rex, there were the “imperial” Tyrannosaurus imperator and the more “female” Tyrannosaurus regina. However, the researchers did not rule out that the observed diversity in the fossils was due to extreme individual differences of T.rex itself or to sexual dimorphism (anatomical differences between males and females), rather than to different evolutionary species.

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