Thanatotheristes
Name:
Thanatotheristes
(Death reaper).
Phonetic: Fan-ah-to-feh-riss-teez.
Named By: Jared T. Voris, Francois Therrien,
Darla K. Zelenitzky & Caleb M. Brown - 2020.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Tyrannosauridae, Daspletosaurini,
Tyrannosaurinae
Species: T. degrootorum
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated length of the skull up to 80
centimetres long. (holotype fossils are from a sub adult, so fully
grown adults likely a little bit larger).
Known locations: Canada, Alberta - Foremost
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and dentaries
(jaw bones), probably from a sub adult individual.
At
the time of the genus description, Thanatotheristes
is known only
from very partially preserved skull and jaw bones. However, these
bones show that Thanatotheristes was a large
tyrannosaur,
and one
with a close similarity to Daspletosaurus.
The discovery of
Thanatotheristes has also added further evidence
that the tyrannosaurs
of Laramidia (the land mass of North America that was to the left of
the Western Interior Seaway that once submerged the middle of North
America) were divided into North and South populations, with
distinct differences between them.
Possible
prey animals for Thanatotheristes to hunt could
include ceratopsian
dinosaurs such as Xenoceratops,
which are also known from the same
fossil bearing formation as Thanatotheristes.
Further reading
- A new tyrannosaurine (Theropoda:Tyrannosauridae) from the
Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, provides insight
into the evolution and biogeography of tyrannosaurids. - Cretaceous
Research. - Jared T. Voris, Francois Therrien, Darla K.
Zelenitzky & Caleb M. Brown - 2020.
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