Dynamoterror

Dy-nah-mo-teh-ror.
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Liam Carter

Paleoanthropologist

Liam Carter explores the roots of humanity by studying early human fossils and artifacts. His ground-breaking work has provided a deeper understanding of our ancestors' lifestyles and social structures.

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Name

Dynamoterror ‭(‬Power terror‭)‬.

Phonetic

Dy-nah-mo-teh-ror.

Named By

A.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬McDonald,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬G.‭ ‬Wolfe‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Dooley Jr‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Tyrannosauridae,‭ ‬Tyrannosaurinae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

D.‭ ‬dynastes‭

Size

Roughly estimated at‭ ‬9‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

USA,‭ ‬New Mexico‭ ‬-‭ ‬Menefee Formation.

Time Period

Campanian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial skull and postcranial remains.

In Depth

       A relative of the famous Tyrannosaurus,‭ ‬Dynamoterror lived further south in what is now the New Mexico area of the USA.‭ ‬Described after a pain staking process of re-combined the partial remains of the holotype,‭ ‬Dynamoterror was revealed to have been a medium/large nine meter long predatory dinosaur.‭ ‬This is smaller than the largest known tyrannosaurs,‭ ‬but certainly a comfortable average for most tyrannosaurs in North America during the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous.‭ ‬Dynamoterror is at the time of its writing one of the oldest members of the‭ ‬Tyrannosauridae in North America.‭

       Dynamoterror is known to have lived in the same habitat as armoured nodosaurid dinosaurs such as Invictarx.‭ ‬It is possible that at times Dynamoterror attacked these dinosaurs,‭ ‬and probably other kinds that we have yet to discover.‭ ‬Dynamoterror however was‭ ‬not the only large predator in the area that it lived.‭ ‬Fossil remains from the same fossil bearing formation as Dynamoterror have also been attributed to the giant crocodile Deinosuchus.‭ ‬Fossil remains from other locations have shown that‭ ‬these massive crocodiles had no fear of lashing out at tyrannosaurs.

       Another early tyrannosaur that lived in North America at the same approximate time as Dynamoterror is Lythronax,‭ ‬while the genus Bistahieversor is also known from New Mexico,‭ ‬but from a different fossil bearing rock formation.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new tyrannosaurid‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Theropoda‭) ‬from the Upper Cretaceous Menefee Formation of New Mexico.‭ ‬PeerJ.‭ ‬6.‭ ‬-‭ ‬A.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬McDonald,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬G.‭ ‬Wolfe‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Dooley Jr‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018. – New data on the tyrannosaurid dinosaur Dynamoterror, including a more complete skeleton, from the Menefee Formation (middle Campanian) of New Mexico, USA: Implications for tyrannosaurid evolution in southern Laramidia. – The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. – A.T. McDonald, D.G. Wolfe & A.C. Dooley – 2021.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT