Topic: Research News
A fossil found in Montana contains a T. rex tooth stuck in another dinosaur's skull. Researchers used CT scans to learn more about the attack.
A remarkable fossil at Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies is giving scientists a unique glimpse into how Tyrannosaurus may have attacked its prey.
The specimen, which contains a tyrannosaur tooth still embedded in another dinosaur's skull, was studied by researchers from Montana State University and the University of Alberta in Canada. The fossil dates back around 66 million years ago, near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, when Tyrannosaurus ruled what is now Montana.
The massive predator shared its environment with other giants, including the horned Triceratops and the duck-billed herbivore Edmontosaurus. In 2005, researchers uncovered a nearly complete Edmontosaurus skull in the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
The fossil is now part of the Museum of the Rockies' paleontology collection, where one extraordinary feature immediately stands out: a broken tyrannosaur tooth remains lodged in the animal's face. The skull is currently displayed in the museum's Hall of Horns and Teeth and became the centerpiece of a collaborative investigation led by University of Alberta doctoral student Taia Wyenberg-Henzler and Museum of the Rockies Curator of Paleontology John Scannella.
Their findings were published in the scientific journal PeerJ.
Implications
A fossil found in Montana contains a T. rex tooth stuck in another dinosaur's skull. Researchers used CT scans to learn more about the attack.
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