Fossils unearthed in northern Uzbekistan's remote Kyzylkum Desert of a smaller, older cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex are showing that the modest forerunners of that famous brute had already acquired the sophisticated brain and senses that helped make it such a horrifying predator.

Researchers said last week the horse-sized Cretaceous Period dinosaur, named Timurlengia euotica, that roamed Central Asia 90 million years ago sheds new light on the lineage called tyrannosaurs that culminated with T. rex, which stalked North America more than 20 million years later.

The researchers used CT scans to look inside Timurlengia's braincase and digitally reconstruct its brain, sinuses, nerves, blood vessels and inner ear. The make-up of the inner ear indicated Timurlengia, like T. rex, excelled at hearing lower frequency sounds.