Juliasaurus
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I wondered is this was an April Fool’s joke, but apparently Juliasaurus Paleo was discovered in the Morrison Formation, Wyoming, North America in 2020. The Morrison Formation, an area covering 1-3 million square kilometres, has been a rich source of dinosaur fossils since the late nineteenth century.
It prowled the earth around ninety million years before its infamous, much larger cousin, Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its skull formation and dentition suggest that it slashed its prey rather than crushing it. Juliasaurus is a specimen that is almost three-quarters complete, which is unusual, as most dinosaur discoveries are highly fragmented.
Research continues to determine whether Juliasaurus is an entirely new species.
Meanwhile, on loan from a private collector, it goes on public display at Hollytrees Museum in Colchester on April 3rd.
It doesn't look terrifying - but who knows what a dinosaur really looked like. I read somewhere recently that there is a rethink going on over skin and scales to 'maybe' they were covered in feathers. Big Chook....
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