On May 16th, researchers from Xing Lida's research group at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), the Museum of Sihui City in Guangdong Province, Sun Yat sen University, and the Institute of Deep Earth Sciences at Guangdong University of Science and Technology announced that a group of Late Cretaceous large theropod dinosaur teeth discovered in the Sanshui Basin of Guangdong Province have been classified into the tyrannosaurid superfamily. This is the first discovery of a large theropod in the Sanshui Basin and the southernmost fossil record of tyrannosaurs in China. The paper was published in the international geological journal Cretaceous Research. The fossils discovered this time consist of four teeth, all of which are from the Dalangshan Formation of the Upper Cretaceous, dating back to the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 66 million years ago. Three of them were found in Sihui City, Zhaoqing, and the other one was found at the construction site of the International Finance City in Tianhe District, Guangzhou. Dr. Zeng Qiang from the Deep Earth Science Research Institute of Guangdong University of China has conducted multiple inspections of the fossil site and collected the fossil. The fossil is currently housed in the Geological Mineral Museum of the School of Earth Science and Engineering, Sun Yat sen University, and the model is housed in the Zhengjia Natural Science Museum in Guangdong. The research team also conducted systematic developmental analysis and discriminant analysis on the morphological characteristics of teeth. Among them, phylogenetic analysis used 145 characteristic data from 97 theropod species, and the results support that four teeth belong to the tyrannosaurid superfamily. Researchers have stated that "based on the fossilized teeth of the Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily, it is speculated that the Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily discovered in Sihui City has a body length of about 5-6 meters, while those found in the urban area of Guangzhou may be larger individuals." Xing Lida, associate professor at China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and visiting researcher at the Guangdong Zhengjia Natural Science Museum, introduced that the Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily is a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs with significant body size differences, which is a dominant group in the middle and late Cretaceous period, with a maximum length of over 12 meters. Previously, footprints of the Tyrannosaurus rex superfamily, including the Qianzhou dragon and Tyrannosaurus rex, have been found in the Ganzhou region of southern China, and Tyrannosaurus rex teeth have been found in the Heyuan region. The discovery of this tooth is the first discovery of a large theropod in the Sanshui Basin, and it is also the southernmost fossil record of tyrannosaurs in China, and one of the latest tyrannosaur fossil records in China. Researchers have stated that previous records of dinosaur egg fossils from the Late Cretaceous in the Sanshui Basin also showed the active presence of dinosaurs such as Pterodactylosaurus, Oviraptosaurus, and Duckbill dinosaurs in the area. "The teeth of the tyrannosaurus superfamily discovered this time and their composition form a dinosaur biota, indicating that before the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous, the dinosaur biota was likely to be quite prosperous in southern China." (Li Xinshe)
Edit：He Chuanning Responsible editor：Su Suiyue
Source：People's Daily
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