As I write this, there is news of an exciting discovery from Patagonia in South America of a new bigger relative of T rex. Apparently the bodies of 6 animals have been found indicating a body larger than that of the known T rexes to date. But the skull is quite different with a long narrow snout and razor teeth contrasted to the wide large skull of T rex with wider teeth. It is believed to be related to the other large theropod from the area, Giganotosaurus. Phil Currie indicates that this may be an indication that this was an animal that lived and hunted in packs. We will anxiously await the technical report on these exciting new animals.

An article in the November Journal of Paleontology by M. Manabe of Japan describes a single premaxillary tooth found from the Lower Cretaceous in Japan. An earlier discovery in Thailand of parts of Siamotyrannus isanensis dated from the Early Cretaceous (about 124 MYA) may indicate that the early evolution of tyrannosaurids occurred in Asia and then migrated to North America in the early Late Cretaceous. The 11 mm long tooth found has the distinctive D shape of tyrannosaurids with denticles along both the carina. It is interesting that the Japanese tooth has 6 denticles per mm compared to the teeth from Judith River animals which have only 4 denticles per carina. It is not known if this tooth was from a juvenile or adult animal. The other distinction of tyrannosaurid teeth is their thickening (particularly the premaxillary teeth), and this tooth may indicate that the thickening of the teeth preceeded the increase in body size.

Sometimes it seems like most of the big news these days is coming from Liaoning China! Now they have also found an early ceratopsian in layers of Middle to Late Jurassic rock (from the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, December 1999). These horned dinosaurs were thought to be present in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous. The animal named Chaoyangsaurus youngi consists of many of the skull bones and some cervical vertebrae and leg bones. It is a small adult. Although it has been shown to be a ceratopsian, its position within the group is not determined at this time.

Amber from the Cretaceous is rare, so this is an exciting discovery in Alava Spain. It is reported in the January 2000 issue of the Journal of Paleontology by J. Alonso et al. Included specimens found are crustaceans (amphipods and isopods), chelicerates (acari and arachnids), 12 orders of insects, several bird feathers (one contour feather and 10 parts of downy feathers), molluscs, leaves (conifers), and pollen. Of the 600 insects found, half were flies, 28% were bees, ants and relatives, about 4% were beetles, and the rest were in 12 other orders. They are dated at about 120 MYA that fills a gap between other known amber sites. All of the specimens are very small but this is a common bias for amber. This finding gives a good look at the biodiversity of the Cretaceous forests.