Tyrannosaur dinosaurs might not have been solitary predators as long envisioned, but more like social carnivores such as wolves, new research unveiled on Monday found.
Paleontologists developed the theory while studying a mass tyrannosaur death site found seven years ago in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah, one of two monuments that the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering restoring to their full size.
Using geochemical analysis of the bones and rock, a team of researchers with the University of Arkansas determined that the dinosaurs died and were buried in the same place and were not the result of fossils washing in from multiple areas.
Photo: AP
The new Utah site is the third mass tyrannosaur grave site that has been discovered in North America — bolstering a theory first developed 20 years ago that they lived in packs.
However, more research needs to be done to make that argument, said Kristi Curry Rogers, a biology professor at Macalester College who was not involved in the research, but reviewed the finding.
“It is a little tougher to be so sure that these data mean that these tyrannosaurs lived together in the good times,” Rogers said. “It’s possible that these animals may have lived in the same vicinity as one another without traveling together in a social group, and just came together around dwindling resources as times got tougher.”
In 2014, US Bureau of Land Management paleontologist Alan Titus discovered the site, which was later named the Rainbows and Unicorns quarry because of the vast array of fossils contained inside.
Excavation has been ongoing since the site’s discovery because of the size of the area and volume of bones.
“I consider this a once-in-a-lifetime discovery for myself,” Titus told reporters during a virtual news conference. “I probably won’t find another site this exciting and scientifically significant during my career.”
The social tyrannosaurs theory began more than 20 years ago when more than a dozen tyrannosaurs were found at a site in Alberta, Canada.
Another mass death site in Montana again raised the possibility of social tyrannosaurs.
Many scientists questioned the theory, arguing that the dinosaurs did not have the brainpower to engage in sophisticated social interaction, Titus said.
“Going that next step to understand behavior and how animals behave requires really amazing evidence,” said Joseph Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. “I think that this site, the spectacular collection of tyrannosaurs, but also the other assembled pieces of evidence ... pushes us to the point where we can show some evidence for behavior.”
In addition to the tyrannosaurs, researchers have also found seven species of turtles, multiple fish and ray species, two other kinds of dinosaurs and a nearly complete skeleton of a juvenile Deinosuchus alligator.
Paleontology groups have been among those pushing the US government to restore the Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante to their original sizes to protect the region’s rich paleontological and archeological record.
US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited southern Utah earlier this month as she prepared to submit recommendations on whether to reverse a decision by the administration of former US president Donald Trump to downsize the monuments.
Titus said that he showed Haaland some of the fossils at his lab during her visit and said she “appreciated getting to see the material.”
“The [bureau] is protecting these fossils as national treasures,” Titus said. “They’re part of the story of how North America came to be and how ultimately we came to be.”
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
STILL AFLOAT: Satellite images show that a Chinese ship damaged in a collision earlier this month was under repair on Hainan, but Beijing has not commented on the incident Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships. The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years. Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they
RSS