‘Dueling dinosaurs’ fossil forces a radical rethink of T. rex remains

The snout of Nanotyrannus, which has more teeth than T. rex. NC Museum of Natural Sciences

A legendary fossil housed at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh features skeletons apparently locked in prehistoric combat — an epic meeting of two of the world’s favorite dinosaurs: Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex. Or so paleontologists thought.

Researchers who spent the past five years studying the stunning collection of bones called the “dueling dinosaurs” say they have uncovered a case of mistaken identity, determining that the small-bodied dinosaur was not a juvenile T. Rex but rather a fully grown example of a hotly debated species known as Nanotyrannus lancensis.

“We have the growth record preserved in the microstructure of the bone, which shows that it’s an adult,