Paleontologists Find 145-million-year-old Teeth of Tyrannosaurus Rex Relative in Kalasin Province, Northeast Thailand
A collaborative team of paleontologists from Mahasarakham University, Kasetsart University and Sirindhorn Museum have discovered three fossilized teeth of a Basal Tyrannosauroid in Phu Noi, Kalasin province, marking the first discovery of Tyrannosauroidea in Jurassic Southeast Asia. The 145-million-year-old specimen from the Tithonian age of the Jurassic period was discovered by Kasetsart University graduate student Wongwech Chowchuvech. The supervising researchers of this study are Asst.Prof. Chatchalerm Ketwetsuriya, Kasetsart University, Dr. Sita Manikoon, Mahasarakham University, and Dr. Phornphen Chanthasit, Sirindhorn Museum director.
Morphological examination has revealed the species is closely related to fellow Jurassic tyrannosauroids Guanlong wucaii and Proceratosaurus bradleyi. The paleontologists have reported that “Three of those theropod teeth from the Phu Noi locality show unique dental features that can be distinguished from previous discovered metriacanthosaurid theropod, including the lateral teeth with mesiolingual twisted mesial carinae extending above the cervix line and braided enamel surface texture”.
Phu Noi locality, Kalasin province, is “one of the most prolific Mesozoic vertebrate deposits in Southeast Asia” where numerous species have been unearthed, including freshwater sharks, ray-finned fishes, lungfishes, amphibians, turtles, crocodyliforms, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs.
This study has since been published in the journal Tropical Natural History.
Reporter: Jack Neill
Sources: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2815949/researcher-finds-fossilised-dino-teeth
https://www.sci.news/paleontology/thai-tyrannosauroid-dinosaur-13080.html#google_vignette
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