Pinocchio rex long-snouted tyrannosaur discovered in Asia

Paleontologists have discovered a species of long-snouted dinosaur in southern China, spurring the creation of a new branch of the tyrannosaur family tree.

Nicknamed Pinocchio rexfor its signature elongated snout, researchers whose work was published in the journalNatureCommunicationssay the large cousin toTyrannosaurus rexwas likely a fearsome carnivore that roamed throughout Asia in the late Cretaceous period, or until about 66 million years ago.

• Dinosaurs that evolved into birds survived by shrinking
• New dinosaur, cousin of T. rex, discovered in Arctic

The predator, which has been assigned the formal name ofQianzhousaurus sinensis, haddistinctive skull features that differentiate it from its more well-known kinT. rex. Aside from its snout,the dinosaur had long, narrow teeth, whileT. rexhad thick teeth and powerful, deep-set jaws.

"This is a different breed of tyrannosaur. It has the familiar toothy grin ofT. rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose,"says SteveBrusatte, professor at the University of Edinburgh's school ofgeosciences in Scotland and one of the authors of the study.

"It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier."

The find has confirmed a long-held suspicion among paleontologists that long-snouted tyrannosaurs existed.

Until now, the theory was only circumstantial, supported by two separate finds of fossilized tyrannosaur skulls with seemingly elongated snouts. Researchers were uncertain, however, if the skulls simply belonged to juvenile tyrannosaurs thatwould have eventually developed the telltale thick, robust skull most often associated with the family.

The Pinocchio rex fossil was reportedly unearthed largely intact and well-preserved. While the animal would have cohabited certain environments with other species of tyrannosaur, it was larger than mostand probably hunted different prey, researchers say.

Researchers expect more dinosaurs to be added to the tyrannosaur family tree as more fossils are unearthed throughout Asia.