Best-preserved skeleton of baby dinosaur discovered

The fossil found in a quarry in Bavaria in 2009 suggests that the creature had little "fuzzy" feathers, almost like hairs. It's just 28 inches long and had a large skull, short hind limbs and smooth skin.

Named Sciurumimus after the tree squirrel species Sciurus, the fanged predator that looks like a tiny T-Rex is believed to have been a year-old hatchling, the Daily Mail reported.

It's impossible to say exactly what killed the animal, but probably it was drowned, said Dr Oliver Rauhut, curator of the Bavarian Paleontological and Geological Collections (BSPG) in Munich, who led a team that examined the animal.

"Here we report an exceptionally preserved skeleton of a juvenile megalosauroid, Sciurumimus albersdoerferi, from the Late Jurassic of Germany which preserves a filamentous plumage at the tail base and on parts of the body," said Dr Rauhut.

This specimen is preserved in complete articulation, lying on its right side," he said.

Fossils of theropods -- which include T Rex -- are rare and usually fragmented. The best T Rex specimens are 80 per cent preserved while Sciurumimus is about 98 per cent intact.

"This is one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons ever found worldwide. When I first saw it, it was hard to believe it was real because it was so well preserved," Dr Rauhut said.

The finding, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is of "outstanding scientific importance" because of the completeness of the skeleton, the presence of hair-like filamentous structures and its youth, he said.

"It is very difficult to say how large the animal would have grown to as an adult. One can't rule out it would have been up to eight or nine metres long but it could also have just been two or three metres," Dr Rauhut said.

The large size of the skull in proportion to the rest of the body was a sure sign it had been very young when it died, he added. (More)