Qianzhousaurus individuals hunting. Fossils are known from the 72-66 million-year-old site in Ganzhou, China, where the species was discovered.

Dinosaur fossils found in Southern China thought to be a species of tyrannosaur 

Paleontologists working in Southern China have discovered what is believed to be a new, long-snouted species of Tyrannosaurus rex.

The terrifying carnivore, which has been nicknamed Pinocchio rex, is thought to have lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous, over 66 million years ago, before dinosaurs went extinct.

Although the animal is from the same family as Tyrannosaurus rex, it is very different in its appearance, with an elongated skull and long, narrow teeth, compared to the deep powerful jaws and thick teeth of the T. rex.

It is thought the two species lived alongside each other without competing, as the difference in their jaw structure meant they would have hunted different prey.

Previously to the discovery of Qianzhousaurus sinesis, palaeontologists have questioned the potential existence of another tyrannosaur species. There had been previous discoveries of two fossilised juvenile tyrannosaurs with elongated heads, however it was unclear about whether these were a new class of dinosaur, or just at an early stage of growth.

The recent specimen is intact and well preserved, and is nearing adulthood which confirms the existence of a tyrannosaurus species with a longer snout.

It has been described by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the University of Edinburgh, who have received funding from the Natural Science Foundation of China and National Science Foundation. Findings from the study have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Dr Steve Brusatte is from the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, and was one of the authors of the study. He said: “The new discovery is very important. Along with Alioramus from Mongolia, it shows that the long-snouted tyrannosaurids were widely distributed in Asia.

"Although we are only starting to learn about them, the long-snouted tyrannosaurs were apparently one of the main groups of predatory dinosaurs in Asia.”

Image credit: Chuang Zhao