T. Rex predecessor takes bite out of Jurassic Park critics
♦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.”