(Above) Fossil skull of Proceratosaurus, looked after in the Museum's collections. It is the oldest-known relative of T.Rex, having lived 165 million years ago. Natural History Museum
Scientists have identified the skull of the oldest known relative of the T.Rex, more than 100 years after it was discovered in a Gloucestershire reservoir.
The near-complete 30cm skull is in the London Natural History Museum's collection and has been identified by experts as a 165 million-year-old Proceratosaurus.
"It was quite a surprise when our analysis showed we had the oldest known relative of T.Rex," said Dr Angela Milner, a dinosaur expert at the Museum.
"We care for more than nine million fossils here at the Museum and this discovery highlights the importance of museum collections in current and future research.
"Fossils collected a century ago can now be studied again with the benefit of much greater knowledge of dinosaurs from around the world."
Scientists from Britain and Germany used computer tomography techniques to generate X-rays and a 3D image of the remains of the skull, allowing them to study its internal structure in more detail.
They found that its teeth, jaws and braincase all closely resemble the structures found in the T.Rex, but Proceratosaurus would have been smaller, at around three metres long, and lived 100 million years earlier.
The new dinosaur will help provide important clues for scientists about the early stages of evolution in these fearsome predators.
