Name:
Eotyrannus
(Dawn Tyrant)
Phonetic: E-oh-ty-ran-us.
Named By: Steve Hutt et al. - 2001.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannosauroidea
Species: E. lengi (type).
Type: Carnivore.
Size: Up to 4 meters long for holotype specimen, may
have grown bigger.
Known locations: United Kingdom, Isle of Wight -
Wessex Formation.
Time period: Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and Partial skeleton of
a juvenile.
This
tyrannosaur
is one of the earliest known and the fact that it hails
from Western Europe means that the origins of the tyrannosaurs need to
be carefully considered. Given that the largest and last of the group
are known mostly from North America, and the smallest and earliest are
known from Asia, Eotyrannus along with other finds
has upset the
balance a bit. It could be that the tyrannosaurids radiated out from
their origins very early in their evolution and perhaps even returning
to their origins with newer and more advanced forms displacing the old.
Eotyrannus does show with clarity that the
tyrannosaurs were not
always huge and powerful carnivores, but had their origins in the
realms of faster, lightweight hunters. The longer arms also appear to
have still been an important part in prey capture, something that would
become greatly reduced in later tyrannosaurids like Tyrannosaurus.
Because
the skeleton is of a juvenile it cannot be said with any certainty how
big Eotyrannus grew. Only a second and ideally full
grown specimen
would be able to answer this with clarity.
Further reading
- A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the
Wessex Formation (Cretaceous) of southern England." Cretaceous
Research, 22: 227–242. - S. Hutt, D. Naish, D. M. Martill, M. J. Barker
& P. Newbery - 2001.