If you mention the word “dinosaur” to someone, the Tyrannosaurus Rex is likely to be the first thing that comes to mind. But despite our long-standing fascination with the dinosaur species, scientists still know very little about its evolutionary history. But a new fossil unearthed in the United States could give scientists significant information about the ancient predator’s ancestry.
Researchers revealed the discovery of a new species, Daspletosaurus wilsoni, in a paper that was published in the journal Paleontology and Evolutionary science. It displays many of the traits present in more basic tyrannosaurs from older rocks, notably a pronounced set of horns surrounding the eye.
It also has many of the characteristics of later members of the genus, such as the T. rex, such as a tall eye socket and enlarged air spaces in the skull. The scientists propose that this makes D.wilsoni a missing link between older and younger tyrannosaurus species.
What The New Fossil Reveals About The Evolution Of Dinosaurs
There are numerous closely related species that are representative of numerous dinosaur families that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. They were once believed to have coexisted, offering proof of branching evolution. But as of late, new evidence from the discovery of fresh specimens suggests that many of these species may have lived at various times.
This appears to be related to the “anagenesis” process of evolution, in which one member of a species directly evolves into a descendent species, establishing an orderly “ladder” of evolutionary history.
This new study on D.wilsoni suggests that tyrannosaurs should be added to a growing list of dinosaurs for which anagenesis, or linear evolution, has been proposed. Anagenesis is contrasted with “cladogenesis,” when new species “branch out” into multiple species that are closely related and consequently, are similar to each other. These several species are “cousins” in cladogenesis as opposed to ancestors or descendants.
Discovery of D.wilsoni (Sisyphus fossil) (Sisyphus fossil)
According to the Dickinson Museum Center, the dinosaur was discovered by museum crew member Jack Wilson in 2017. Wilson noticed a flat bone fragment sticking out of a cliff’s base. The centre portion of a tyrannosaur’s nostril was represented by this bone. To get to the bones, the researchers had to dig through more than eight metres of rock.
Due to the seemingly never-ending task of removing rock and soil before retrieving the fossil, the fossil was given the nickname “Sisyphus” after a figure from Greek mythology. Daspletosaurus wilsoni, the species’ scientific name, derives from Wilson and means “Wilson’s frightful reptile.”