New Tyrannosaur named 'Pinocchio rex
The ferocious carnivore, nine metres long with a distinctive horny snout, was a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex.
Its skeleton was dug up in a Chinese construction site and identified by scientists at Edinburgh University, UK.
This fossil is the slam dunk we needed - the long-snouted tyrannosaurs were real”
The 66-million-year-old predator, officially named Qianzhousaurus sinensis, is described in Nature Communications.
"Pinocchio" looked very different to other tyrannosaurs.
"It had the familiar toothy grin of T. rex, but its snout was long and slender, with a row of horns on top," said Edinburgh's Dr Steve Brusatte.
"It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier.
The Blue Fairy:
''Now, remember, Pinocchio: be a good boy. And always let your conscience be your guide.''
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27296357
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