Not Juvenile Tyrannosaurs: Nanotyrannus as a Distinct Clade
- 演化之聲
- Mar 19
- 3 min read
For decades, many palaeontologists have regarded several small-bodied, gracile tyrannosaur-like specimens—such as CMNH 7541, BMRP 2002.4.1, and KUVP 156375—as juvenile individuals of Tyrannosaurus rex. Under this interpretation, T. rex would have undergone extreme ontogenetic transformations, shifting from a slender, cursorial juvenile form to a massive apex predator in adulthood.
However, a recent study re-examines this hypothesis using exceptionally complete skeletal material, osteohistological data, and phylogenetic analyses, and reaches a markedly different conclusion: these specimens represent a distinct evolutionary lineage, separate from Tyrannosaurus, and comprising more than one species.
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