Dig Dug

Near the Gobi Desert, archaeologists have found a 160-million year-old ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex:

The primitive ancestor that lived 160 million years ago was a mere 10 feet long when it was alive, compared to the monster T. rex, who measured more than 40 feet from head to tail and dominated all the dinosaurs on Earth more than 90 million years later. Unlike T. rex, the smaller creature bore a striking but fragile crest atop its head, three fingers on the hands of its surprisingly long forearms and a long, slender snout.

To scientists, the find provides new clues to the evolution of the meat-eating dinosaur tribes known as therapods whose ancestral lineage relates them all to the world’s birds of today.

The crested dinosaur has been named Guanlong wucaii, meaning “crowned dragon of the five-colored rocks” — a reference both to the crest that runs from its nose to the back of its head and the colorful layers of sediment where two of the beasts, one atop the other, were discovered three years ago.

Cool. Also, I doubt I’m the only one who feels like an eight-year-old boy again every time I read about dinosaurs.