GREAT FALLS – University of Kansas researchers say they may have unearthed a rare fossil of a young Tyrannosaurus rex.
David Burnham of the university’s Biodiversity Institute says the teeth suggest it’s a T. rex, but there is still more work to be done before the species is confirmed.
The fossil could be that of a smaller species of another meat-eating dinosaur. Researchers are working to distinguish whether differences compared to the bones of other dinosaurs are due to growth or because they’re from a different species.
Burnham says only a few young Tyrannosaurus rexes have been found, and the fossil found in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation is a “fabulously complete” upper jaw, plus some skull, foot hips and backbones.
The Great Falls Tribune reports that Burnham plans to return to Montana to search for more of the dinosaur.