Dinky dino fossil is big find

Scientists are re-evaluating what they know about the Tyrannosaurus rex’s history after a hip bone was unearthed in Australia and appears to be the first-ever evidence that it had a “southern relative,” according to BBC News.

The fossil—known only as NMV P186069—appears to belong to an animal that was more than four times smaller than its proposed cousin, the T. rex (pictured). Until now, scientists believed the animal existed only in the northern hemisphere throughout its evolution.

“Although we only have one bone, it shows that 110 million years ago, small tyrannosaurs like ours might have been found worldwide,” said Dr. Roger Benson from England’s University of Cambridge.

Scientists are now theorizing that the tyrannosaur reached its massive size late in its lineage, after the northern continents split from the southern continents.