London - A dinosaur believed to be a pygmy Tyrannosaurus rex has been discovered.
Fossilised skull remains thought to be around 70 million years old were found in icy northern Alaska.
Analysis has shown them to be from a Tyrannosaurus – but one that is much smaller than T-rex, the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever to walk the Earth.
Scientists examined fragments of the skull roof and jaw, and concluded that the species, Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, had an adult skull length of 25in (63.5cm), less than half the size of the 60in (152.4cm) skull of a T Rex, the journal PLOS ONE reports.
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Study authors Anthony Fiorillo and Ronald Tykoski, from the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Texas, said the smaller body may have reflected an adaption to scarcer resources in the colder northern climes. - Daily Mail