News by Alka Singh
Japan, Sep 9: An International group of researchers studied a large, isolated, left maxilla (jaw bone) fossil found in Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan. They compared it with other species and found that is a carcharodontosaur (“shark-toothed” dinosaur having sharp and carnivorous teeth similar to a shark), a species of large size dinosaur that preceded the Tyrannosaurs. They lived during the Cretaceous period (90 million years ago). The team estimated that it must have been 7.5 to 8 meters in length, longer than an African elephant and weighed about 1,000 kgs. It had unique bony bumps above its teeth and bony ridges on the sides of the jaw that was similar to Tyrannosaur. It was named as Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis, after Ulugh Beg, a 15th century astronomer and mathematician from the Central Asian region.
