Appalachiosaurus

Appalachiosaurus

(Only new drawing in today's post.)

Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis was an early Theropod that was also a Tyrannosaur.  NOT Tyrannosaurus rex, but a possible T. rex's ancestor from around 5 million years before.  So Appalachiosaurus lived about 70 million years ago.  As you can imagine from the name, it was found in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America in the USA.  There were fragments of this dinosaur (fossilized bones of course) found in several Eastern USA states.  The more complete fossil was found in Alabama. 

It was only the second Theropod found in the Eastern USA.  It showed that there were tyrannosaurs in what is now Easter North America.  The more complete skeleton that was found in Georgia is of a juvenile.  The skull bones are not fused so we know it was not fully grown. This  young Appalachiosaurus was about 23 feet or 7 meters long.  The adult may have been perhaps 30 feet or 11 meters long, but we can't be sure at this point.

You may notice the 6 bumps on the snout.  These are crests that set this animal apart from the similar Albertosaurus from Alberta, Canada.  The Albertosaurus is thought to be a possible ancestor of T. rex as well.  The western part of North America also has Daspeteousaurus... another possible T.rex ancestor. 

Albertosaurus with Leopard Pattern Spots

(This was a Mother's Day drawing.)

Daspleteosaurus on the Prowl

All three of these above Theropod dinosaurs were certainly related to T. rex, but they were probably all quite a bit smaller.  Probably closer to 30 feet or 9 meters instead of the size of a 40 foot or 12 meter long T. rex.  The above dinos also lived before T. rex walked the Earth.  It is likely that at least one of them is a T. rex ancestor. 

T. rex vs Didelphodon

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