9949 Brontosaurus
This minor planet was named after Brontosaurus, a gigantic quadruped sauropod dinosaurs, which walked on all four legs and lived in the Upper Jurassic. Adult individuals measured up to 20 meters and had a weight of up to 20 tons. Many Fossils have been found in the United States. Brontosaurus is one of the best-known dinosaurs. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 November 2002 ().
Specimens of Tyrannosaurus
Scientists are eager to learn more about the years before the carnivore reached its full size of about 40 feet from head to toe. Detrich estimates that Baby Bob was about half that size. "We hardly know anything about how T. rex grew up," said Thomas Carr, director of the Carthage Institute of Paleontology at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. "We really only have a handful of fossils of sub-adults and juveniles, so any additional fossils that can fill in that early end of the growth period is scientifically very important because most of the skeletons of rex that we have are from adults." Bob Bakker, curator of paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, said the scarcity of half-grown T. rex fossils has raised questions.
Young "T. rex" may have stayed in the nest until they were almost grown, he said.
"If this is a really good genuine baby T. rex, it could tell us whether it was fit to hunt on its own or whether it looks like it was designed to wait for mom and dad to come back," Bakker said
Another juvenile fossil also could help settle a debate about whether the "T. rex" has a smaller cousin, called the "nanotyrannus", or nano for short.