News Paleontology

A large fossil leg bone hints at T. rex’s origins, but scientists disagree

The shinbone suggests the dino’s forebears came from North America

A large tyrannosaur, possibly a T. rex ancestor, stomps near a herd of duckbill dinosaurs in this artist’s conception of a scene from around 74 million years ago.

A large tyrannosaur stomps near a herd of duckbill dinosaurs in this artist’s conception of a scene from around 74 million years ago.

Chase Stone

By Carolyn Gramling

When it comes to identifying fossil species, a lone leg bone isn’t much to go on. Yet a new analysis of a large fossil tibia suggests it offers a clue to the origins of Tyrannosaurus rex, the hulking, sharp-toothed apex predator that dominated the twilight of the Age of Dinosaurs.