T. Rex Had Long-Nosed 'Pinocchio' Cousin

The fearsome carnivore Tyrannosaurus rex had a long-snouted cousin that may have been even more dangerous, according to a new study of an Asian fossil specimen.

Researchers are calling the species "Pinocchio rex" for its elongated nose and believe the T. rex relative roamed Asia more than 66 million years ago, CBC News reported. They recently published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

"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 Steve Brusatte, study co-author and professor at the University of Edinburgh's school of geosciences in Scotland, as quoted by CBC News.

"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." 

Thought to be a carnivore living during the Crustaceous period, the dinosaur is formally named Qianzhousaurus sinensis. It was around 29 feet long and weighed about 1,800 pounds, smaller and lighter in comparison with the T. rex, which was 42 feet in length, according to National Geographic.

The remarkably well-preserved fossil specimen discovered in southern China confirms scientists' suspicions that long-snouted tyrannosaurs were a separate species.

Just two specimens of these carnivores have been found, both in Mongolia, so researchers weren't sure if they were a new breed or simply young tyrannosaurs who hadn't yet reached maturity. But paleontologists noted that the specimens had fully fused skulls, indicating that they had reached adulthood.

Pinnochio rex and the traditional tyrannosaur likely were able to live in harmony since they could go after different prey, scientists hypothesize. With its elongated snout, the smaller dinosaur probably went after smaller creatures, but it was just as deadly as its T. rex cousin.

"It would've been bad news," Brusatte told National Geographic, "if you ran into either one of them."