Forget T Rex, its cousin was faster and stealthier

Who does not not know the deadly Tyrannosaurus Rex (T Rex) dinosaur that once roamed the earth like a king.

Now, scientists have discovered a cousin of long-snouted T Rex, nicknamed Pinocchio Rex, that stalked the earth more than 66 million years ago. The Qianzhousaurus Sinensis (or P rex) was a fearsome carnivore that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period.

The newly found ancient predator looked very different from most other Tyrannosaurs. It had an elongated skull and long, narrow teeth compared with the deeper, more powerful jaws and thick teeth of a conventional T rex.

"This is a different breed of Tyrannosaur. It has the familiar toothy grin of T rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose," said Dr Steve Brusatte from University of Edinburgh's school of geosciences.

It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other Tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier, he added.

Until now, only two fossilised Tyrannosaurs with elongated heads had been found, both of which were juveniles.

The new specimen is of an animal nearing adulthood.

It was found largely intact and remarkably well preserved, thereby confirming the existence of Tyrannosaur species with long snouts.

Experts say P rex lived alongside deep-snouted Tyrannosaurs but would not have been in direct competition with them, as they were larger and probably hunted different prey.

Qianzhousaurus Sinensis lived until around 66 million years ago when all of the dinosaurs became extinct, likely as the result of a deadly asteroid impact, said the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

"The new discovery is very important. Along with Alioramus from Mongolia, it shows that the long-snouted Tyrannosaurids were widely distributed in Asia," added Professor Junchang Lo from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.