Major T. Rex Fossils Unearthed In Hell Creek Formation In Montana (Update)

The paleontologists from Burke Museum of Natural History and the University of Washington discovered about 20 percent Tyrannosaurus rex fossils in Hell Creek Formation in northern Montana. These include the vertebrae, hips, ribs and lower jaw bones of the said creature.

The discovery was led by Gregory P. Wilson, a biology professor at the University of Washington and Jason Love and Luke Tufts, paleontology volunteers of Burke Museum, who found pieces of fossilized bone, which were protruded from a rocky hillside. The team also found T. rex skull together with parts of the jaw, pelvis, vertebrae and ribs, according to Phys.Org.

The T.rex was named "Tufts-Love Rex," which derived from the two paleontologists who discovered it. The size of the skull is about 4 feet long and weighs about 2,500 pounds. It is the right side of the skull from base to snout and includes the teeth. The paleontologists said that the dinosaur is about 85 percent the size of the largest T.rex found to date. This is based on the size of its skull. On the other hand, its hips would have been nearly as tall as a city bus and as long as a bus from tail to head.

According to the team, the Tufts-Love Rex is about 66. 3 million years old. It lived at the very end of the Cretaceous Period because it was discovered at the bottom of a hill, which is a rock layer at the top of that hill marks the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. They estimated that Tufts-Love Rex was about 15 years old when it died based on the size of the skull, which indicates the age of T. rex.

The fossils were delivered in Burke Museum. Professor Wilson said that they think the Tufts-Love Rex is going to be an iconic specimen for the Burke Museum and the state of Washington. It will be a must-see for dinosaur researcher as well.

Tyrannosaurus is also referred to as "tyrant lizard." Meanwhile, Rex means "king" in Latin. It belongs to a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. It lived throughout what is now western North America. This dinosaur was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The adult T.rex lived up to 25 to 30 years old.