Three fossilized enamel from a beforehand unknown species of non-tyrannosaurid tyrannosauroid dinosaur have been unearthed in northeastern Thailand by a staff of paleontologists from Kasetsart College, Mahasarakham College and Sirindhorn Museum.
Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation of northeastern Thailand. Picture credit score: Chatcharin Somboon.
“Tyrannosauroidea is a clade of theropods, together with well-known carnivorous dinosaurs resembling Tyrannosaurus rex from the Late Cretaceous of North America,” stated Dr. Chatchalerm Ketwetsuriya of Kasetsart College and colleagues.
“They primarily inhabited within the supercontinent Laurasia all through the Center Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.”
“The earliest-known members of Tyrannosauroidea have been found within the Center Jurassic of Europe and Asia, suggesting the origin of this theropod group inside Eurasia.”
“Tyrannosauroids have been distributed from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous of Asia, with most Asian tyrannosaurs present in China and Mongolia.”
The three remoted enamel of a tyrannosauroid dinosaur examined by the staff have been recovered from the Phu Noi locality, Kham Muang district, Kalasin province, northeastern Thailand.
The specimens date again to the Tithonian age of the Jurassic interval, about 145 million years in the past.
Remoted enamel of basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Phu Noi locality, Thailand. Picture credit score: Chowchuvech et al.
“The Phu Noi locality is famend as one of the vital prolific Mesozoic vertebrate deposits in Southeast Asia,” the paleontologists stated.
“Quite a few species have been unearthed from this web site, together with freshwater sharks, ray-finned fishes, lungfishes, amphibians, turtles, crocodyliforms, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs.”
“Inside the Phu Noi locality, three dinosaur species have been recognized, comprising a metriacanthosaurid theropod, a mamenchisaurid sauropod, and the basal neornithischians Minimocursor phunoiensis.”
“Three of these theropod enamel from the Phu Noi locality present distinctive dental options that may be distinguished from earlier found metriacanthosaurid theropod, together with the lateral enamel with mesiolingual twisted mesial carinae extending above the cervix line and braided enamel floor texture,” they added.
“Morphological examination together with cladistics and morphometric analyses present that these remoted enamel exhibit the synapomorphies of basal tyrannosauroids, intently associated to Guanlong wucaii and Proceratosaurus bradleyi from the Jurassic interval.”
“This discovery notes the primary report of Tyrannosauroidea within the Jurassic of Southeast Asia and contributes to the data paleoecology of the decrease Phu Kradung Formation, in addition to paleobiogeo-graphical distribution of tyrannosauroids in the course of the Late Jurassic,” they concluded.
“Moreover, this research sheds gentle on the chance to discovering new Thai dinosaur species in future excavations and research.”
The study was printed within the journal Tropical Pure Historical past.
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W. Chowchuvech et al. 2024. The First Incidence of a Basal Tyrannosauroid in Southeast Asia: Dental Proof from the Higher Jurassic of Northeastern Thailand. Tropical Pure Historical past 24 (1): 84-95
