Mini T-Rex Discovered on Australia’s Coastline

Smaller versions of T-Rex may have been just as fierce.

Australia laid claim to its very own miniature T-Rex this week after dinosaur bones were discovered in the Victorian state.

An international team of scientists exploring the west coast of Melbourne came across a hip bone fossil that has now been identified as that of a distant cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, only this little fellow is just a third of the size of its much larger cousin, coming in at about 10ft long and weighing 176b. The piece of hip bone  is believed to date back at least 110 million years.

The Victorian coastline has proved to be a treasure trove for palaeontologists, the section in which the mini-T-Rex was found is nicknamed ‘Dinosaur Cove’ because of the huge amount of fossils that have been unearthed. The first fossil found in Victoria was a toe claw from a small theropod dinosaur in 1906. Since then thousands of similar fossils and bones have been discovered in the region.

Previously scientists had thought that the T-Rex was largely confined to northern areas but this find has blown that theory apart and now scientists are working to discover how far south these miniature T-Rexs might have ventured. Monash University say that the finding changes their understanding of the evolution of those dinosaurs.

Rather than the dinosaurs migrating to Australia it is known that Australia extended much further south during the Cretaceous period and that Victoria actually formed part of the Antarctic Circle. The T-Rexs would have roamed this area freely. Australia would have been a large landmass that was hot and swampy. Australia eventually broke away from Antarctica and became a series of islands. Perhaps that’s when this particular dinosaur become stranded.

The find now raises questions about how the T-Rex evolved into the giant predators that we know today.

If you fancy mixing your Australian holiday with a bit of fossil hunting in the rich regions around Victoria there are various guides to help you do just that. The Museum of Victoria recommends a number of locations where you can dig safely and who knows, the next big discovery might just have your name on it!

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