Moros

Name: Moros ‭(‬ancient Greek for‭ ‘‬impending doom‭’).
Phonetic: Mo-ross.
Named By: Lindsay E.‭ ‬Zanno,‭ ‬Ryan T.‭ ‬Tucker,‭ ‬Aurore Canoville,‭ ‬Haviv M.‭ ‬Avrahami,‭ ‬Terry A.‭ ‬Gates‭ & ‬Peter J.‭ ‬Makovicky‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Tyrannosauroidea.
Species: M.‭ ‬intrepidus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Hind limb length estimated at‭ ‬1.2‭ ‬meters.‭ ‬Total body size unknown.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Utah‭ ‬-‭ ‬Cedar Mountain Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial hind leg bones.‭ ‬Teeth.‭ ‬Holotype fossils are of a subadult.




       Moros is a genus of primitive tyrannosauroid that lived in North America during the earlier‭ ‬stages of the Late cretaceous.‭ ‬The holotype‭ ‬fossils of Moros date from the Cenomanian of the Cretaceous,‭ ‬meaning that the discovery of these has turned back the clock on the first known appearance of a definitive tyrannosaur in North America by a‭ ‬further fifteen million years.‭ ‬With perhaps a grim sense of humour the describers named this new genus Moros which is ancient Greek for‭ ‬impending doom‭’‬.‭ ‬A fitting name when you consider that later tyrannosaurs would become the apex predators of North America.‭
       Unfortunately all we known at the time of writing about Moros are some partial leg and foot bones and some teeth.‭ ‬The leg length of Moros has been estimated by the genus describers to be about one hundred and twenty centimetres long,‭ ‬but these‭ ‬fossil bones are also of a subadult individual.‭ ‬Fully grown adults may have been slightly bigger,‭ ‬but without further fossil discoveries we can only make a best guess at the remainder of‭ ‬the body proportions.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the‭ ‬70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Communications Biology.‭ ‬2‭ (‬1‭)‬:‭ ‬64‭ ‬-‭ ‬Lindsay E.‭ ‬Zanno,‭ ‬Ryan T.‭ ‬Tucker,‭ ‬Aurore Canoville,‭ ‬Haviv M.‭ ‬Avrahami,‭ ‬Terry A.‭ ‬Gates‭ & ‬Peter J.‭ ‬Makovicky‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019.



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