The Daily Telegraph

T. Rex predecesso­r takes bite out of Jurassic Park critics

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♦j♦rassic Park has long been derided for placing Tyrannosau­rus Rex too early in history.

Steven Spielberg’s film featured a T. Rex in a “Jurassic” theme park, even though the dinosaur did not evolve until around 145million years ago – after the Jurassic period. But now a study by the University of Manchester suggests similar giant carnivores did roam the planet at that time. Researcher­s found threetoed footprints measuring 22inches long and 19 wide which must have come from a 10ft tall dinosaur with a body length of around 30ft which lived 200million years ago. The new species, kayentapus ambrokholo­hal, is part of the same group of dinosaurs as T. Rex.

Dr Fabien Knoll said: “The latest discovery is very exciting and sheds new light on the kind of carnivore that roamed what is now southern Africa.”

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