Dynamoterror: the dinosaur of New Mexico was a "sovereign of powerful terrorism"

IIn 2012, a team of paleontologists discovered an unprecedented and frightening discovery in the Menefee Formation in New Mexico. Buried in the old slope of shale, coal and sandstone, were the bones of a species of tyrannosaur recently discovered. Tuesday, paleontologists officially announced in the newspaper peerj that they gave this dinosaur a name at the height of his bad boy reputation: Dynamoterror Dynastes.

Andrew McDonald, Ph.D., curator at the Western Science Center in California, co-directed the excavations that uncovered the D. dynasts. He says reverse that when he was a child, he saw the name Dynamosaurus in a magazine and it stuck to him (that's a pretty awesome name). This name is no longer used – now we use Tyrannosaurus – But McDonald says that "when my colleagues and I had the chance to name a new tyrannosaur, I wanted to use the Greek word" dynamis "in the name."

"Terror", on the other hand, is a familiar Latin word and suited quite well for a giant meat eater. McDonald chose "dynasts", also Latin, because it evokes and it just sounded like a ball. Full name, Dynamoterror Dynastes, means "powerful terrorist ruler".

"I think that for us humans – including paleontologists – tyrannosaurs are among the largest and most charismatic animals in Earth's history, and I wanted a name that captures those qualities," says McDonald.

McDonald and his team believe that this specific Tyrannosaurus lived about 80 million years ago. Dinosaur fossils dating back to this period are rarely found in western North America – only one other tyrannosaurus was named at that time in this region, a massive species called lythronax. (The name of this carnivore translates to "gore king", so this new Tyrannosaurus is in good company.)

Since it's so unusual to find these dinosaurs from this place and that time, the Dynamoterror adds crucial new data on the anatomy and diversity of tyrannosaurs and represents one of the main predators of the Upper Cretaceous ecosystem.

In total, the team found right and left frontal bones of the skull, a right hand bone, toe bones and a left foot bone. The bones of the frontal skull do not look like those of other tyrannosaurs, which clearly indicates that the team has discovered something new. The Western Science Center has created 3D digital models of these fossils, available for download. here and here as a resource for paleontologists and scientific citizens.