<h1>Tamerlane - Reveals the mystery of the rise of the Tyrannosaurus family</h1>
The other day introduced the paleontology by scanning the brain cavity of the tyrannosaurus to explore the secrets of the rise of tyrannosaurs, in fact, another primitive tyrannosaur discovered in 2016 also provides evidence, also about the brain, but seems to focus on different directions.
<h1>In the name of the Empire</h1>
In March 2016, the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published an article titled "New tyrannosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Uzbekistan clarifies evolution of giant body sizes and and." The paper advanced senses in tyrant dinosaurs) named a member of the Tyrannosaurus family, Timurlengia.
The Timurid Empire, once a large empire centered on Central Asia, is from the Internet
The genus name Timurlengia comes from the Tamerlane Empire, which flourished in Central Asia in the 14th century. The type name of Tamerlane is Timurlengia euotica, and the species name euotica comes from the larger inner ear structure in the fossil.
<h1>60+10 years of twists and turns</h1>
In 1944, the Soviet Red Army was marching at a high speed, picture from the Internet
Fossils of Tamerlane were found in Uzbekistan in the Bissekty Formation formation. In fact, as early as 1944, Soviet investigators found fossil materials of tyrannosaurs here (I am curious, in the middle of World War II, the Soviet government would send people to investigate paleontological fossils, which is obviously not their style).
Note: The location where Tamerlane dragon was found, located in the interior of central Asia, image from the Internet
Sixty years later, in 2004, a paleontological expedition found a fragment of a skull at the same site that may have been used to fix neck muscles and protect the brain and ear canals, a fossil later preserved in a cardboard box in a warehouse at the Institute of Zoology at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Photo note: In a cardboard box of the Institute of Zoology, a new species of Brusat is turned over, and the picture comes from the network
Ten years later, in 2014, Stephen Louis Brusatte, an expert on tyrannosaurs at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, visited the Institute of Zoology and immediately judged them to belong to an unknown tyrannosaur dinosaur when he saw the fossils in the cardboard box in the storeroom. Soon, a joint team of paleontologists from Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States began to study the dinosaur, and in addition to the orthotype specimen (number zin PH 1146/16), paleontologists found 16 fossil specimens from different individuals, including mandibles, square bones, tooth bones, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, tail vertebrae, claws, etc.
Illustration: An image tells you that you have found fossils belonging to Tamerlane, next to the scale reference body length, the picture is from the paper
<h1>Size like a horse</h1>
Illustration: Tamerlane compared to human body size, image from the Internet
In the Tyrannosaurus family, Tamerlane was small, with a body length of 3 to 4 meters and a weight of between 170 and 270 kg, about the size of a horse.
Tamerlane already possessed the basic appearance characteristics of the late Tyrannosaurus rex, with a large and long head and two rows of sharp teeth that curved backwards in its mouth. Tamerlane had a curved neck, a thinner body, and a tail behind it. Like Tyrannosaurus, Tamerlane had short forelimbs, only two fingers on its hands, and long and powerful hind limbs.
Image note: The head of Tamerlane dragon is restored, the picture is from the internet
Although the restoration depicts Tamerlane as a hairy animal, it is unknown whether it grew hairy or not.
<h1> Not very big
</h1>
Picture note: The place where Tamerlane dragon was found, in the Kyzylqum Desert, the picture comes from the Internet
As mentioned earlier, the fossil of Tamerlane was found in the Baskti Formation formation, located in the Kyzyl Kum desert of present-day Uzbekistan. The Baskti Formation has a chronological span from the Toulon to the Konyas order, which is 90 million to 85 million years ago, which belongs to the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.
Picture note: Ancient bird-like dragon living with Tamerlane, picture from the Internet
Illustration: Turanhorns living with Tamerlan, image from the Internet
Don't look at the Bascoti Formation formation, which today is a desert located inland from the mainland, which was covered by a shallow sea 90 million years ago, which is the retreating Tethys Sea. Based on the fossils found, the Bascoti formation represents a mixture of marine, brackish water, freshwater and terrestrial fauna, including arthropods, molluscs, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs include Amtosaurus, Bissektipelta, Gilmoreosaurus, Levnesovia, Turanoceratops, Archaeornithomimus, Asian Cynognathasia, and Archaeornithomimus. Euronychodon, Itemirus, Kuszholia.
Judging from the animals currently found in the Baskti Formation formation, Tamerlane was the largest predator and the overlord of the time.
<h1>The articulation of the Overlord</h1>
Photo note: Brussart is showing a restored image of Timur's dragon at a press conference, pictured from the Internet
The discovery of Tamerlane is of great significance, and from the fossil material, there is a clear time fault between the superfamily Tyrannosaurus and the family Tyrannosaurus: 100 million years ago to 80 million years ago. The discovery of Tamerlane, which put an end to this 20-million-year-old fault, helps us understand what really happened between those 20 million years, allowing Tyrannosaurus to evolve from second-rate predators to top predators.
Note: CT scan of timurid dragon inner ear bone, image from the paper
By scanning the fossil skulls found using CT technology, paleontologists found that Tamerlanes already possessed the brain and inner ear characteristics of later tyrannosaurs. That is to say, before the size of the tyrannosaurs began to be larger, they were ready for the mind and senses, and it was really the brain first. The discovery of Tamerlane proved that the reason why the tyrannosaurs were able to successfully ascend to the throne of the king in the late Cretaceous was that they had seized their intellectual advantage early.
Illustration: The location of Tamerlane in the Tyrannosaurus Rex Evolution Tree, picture from the paper, translated by Jiang's little robber
Although Tamerlane revealed the evolutionary mystery of the Tyrannosaurus rex, it was not a direct ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, and its position in the family was in the more advanced position of the Tyrannosaurus superfamily, but it did not belong to the later large tyrannosaur family.
Resources:
1.Stephen L. Brusatte, Alexander Averianov,Hans-Dieter Sues, Amy Muir and Ian B. Butler (2016). "New tyrannosaur fromthe mid-Cretaceous ofUzbekistanclarifies evolution of giant body sizes and advanced senses in tyrantdinosaurs". Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of theUnited States of America.in press.
2.Michael Greshko PUBLISHED Mon Mar 1415:00:00 EDT. "‘Missing Link’ in Tyrannosaur Family Tree Discovered". National Geographic News. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
3. English Wiki
Photo / Part of the network (intrusion and deletion)
Text / Prehistoric World (Jiang Hong)
Typography / Prehistoric World