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| An illustration by Anthony Hatchings, taken by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.¹ |
For years, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, or the "T-Rex," is one of the most legendary and known creatures of the Cretaceous Era. Millions of years ago, this gigantic dinosaur is what's formerly believed to be the king amongst other dinosaurs that came before it's extinction. Paleontologists and natural scientists come together throughout the United States to discuss the dinosaur in the room- what about the Nanotyrannus? The Nanotyrannus, literal meaning, "Small Tyrant," was also another genus that lived co-inside with the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Indeed, both are fierce predators, however, there are fine-line differences and similarities between these two carnivorous dominators.
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| The expedition site of Dr. David Dunkle's team in the Hell Creek Formation on finding the Nanotyrannus, taken from the Cleveland National History Museum.² |
The history of the Nanotyrannus dates back to 1942, first discovered by Dr. David Dunkle's team of paleontologists on the shy location of the Hell Creek Formation, Montana.² His team discovered a couple of dinosaurs. Two of them were previously unraveled by past paleontologists, but the most significant fossil discovery of them all was a uniquely shaped skull. This outlandishly shaped skull was what sparked the conversation, it was a theropod.²Time and time again did this skull undergo multiple false designations. It came to a halt between the fierce debate of whether it was meant to be a Nanotyrannus, or simply, a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex.
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| A skull of a Nanotyrannus Lancensis, taken by the Australian Museum.³ |
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| Statistics comparing and contrasting target sizes of the Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus Rex, taken by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.¹ |
Diagnostics from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences show that the Nanotyrannus Lancensis is less than a tenth of the Tyrannosaurus Rex's weight and overall size.¹ Despite this massive size difference, there are hypotheses and guesses that the Nanotyrannus was a "leaner, swifter, and more agile hunter," as said from Lindsay Zinno¹ , a close associate with James Napoli. This discovery culminates to one specific fossil. Paleontologists at the Burpee Museum of National History have named this fossil to be "Jane," the "sub-adult Tyrannosaurus Rex."
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| A picture taken from the Burpee Museum of National History, provided by the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau Land of Management. |
Jane is one of the Nanotyrannus fossils that was previously mis-named as a "juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex." Even so, paleontologists have irrefutably denied that this was not the case. In fact, Jane is a Nanotyrannus, most specifically, a Nanotyrannus Lethaeus.⁵ What paleontologists further analyzed about Jane is that a Nanotyrannus's bone development shares a similar growth rate to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which could have caused that widespread confusion amongst paleontologists. That fact brings up the question, and as the Burpee Museum Staff writes it, "what would a fully grown, young, Tyrannosaurus Rex, look like?"⁵ Answers behind that question may not seem achievable at the very moment. Nevertheless, the efforts behind these discoveries through the paleontologists must not be downplayed, for a young Tyrannosaurus Rex may pop up at any moment.
