- A new T. rex cousin has been recently rediscovered by a Ph.D candidate at the University of Calgary.
- The fossilized specimen used to confirm the new species was actually sitting in a drawer in a museum for nearly a decade before a student at the university identified it.
- The new dinosaur, Thanatotheristes degrootorum, is also known as the 'reaper of death' and goes by the nickname 'Thanatos,' Greek for 'death.' The dinosaur was absolutely ferocious and had a maw full of razor-sharp teeth.
Tyrannosaurus rex has long sat on the throne of most ferocious dinosaur. After all, "king" is in the name. But a new tyrannosaurid species is coming for the crown.
A new study published in Cretaceous Research introduces the world to Thanatotheristes degrootorum. Known as "Reaper of Death" and "Thanatos" (Greek for "death"), this new dino likely belongs to the T. rex family and is—so far—the oldest known relative of the group to be discovered in North America.
Darla Zelenitsky, assistant professor of Dinosaur Palaeobiology at the University of Calgary, told Popular Mechanics that she and her fellow researchers went with 'Thanatotheristes' to keep “with the edgy and fun names that have been given to tyrannosaurs in more recent years.” Skorpiovenator, also known as "scorpion hunter," would be proud.
Living during the Cretaceous period, Thanatos grew to about 26 feet long from head to tail and had a “long, deep snout,” perfectly adapted for catching its prey (which was basically whatever it wanted).
And whatever prey Thanatos did set its sights on had little chance of surviving an attack considering the massive dinosaur's "steak-knife-like teeth that were more than 2.7 inches long," according to Live Science.
The fossils show that Thanatos was one of the oldest known tyrannosaurid species in North America and predated T. rex “by some 12 million years,” according to Zelenitsky.
The fossilized bones used to identify this new species “had been in a museum drawer” for nearly a decade before being studied, Zelenitsky says. The remains were originally found in 2010 near Canada's Bow River by John and Sandra De Groot (hence the degrootorum part of Thanatos' scientific name).
It wasn't until nine years later that Ph.D student, Jared Voris, recognized the specimens as “a new species of tyrannosaur,” Zelenitsky adds. Voris says that he knew Thanatos was a new kind of tyrannosaur because of distinct characteristics on the creature's skull, the most prominent of which are ridges along the entirety of the upper jaw.
He adds that this is the oldest tyrannosaurus species from Canada—and the first new Tyrannosaurus species found in the country within the last 50 years. The fossils are about “79.5 million years old,” says Voris. And honestly, this is one creature we're glad remains in the past.
