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New tyrannosaur species dubbed ‘king of gore’ found in Utah

Posted at 2:07 PM, Nov 06, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-06 21:35:39-05

SALT LAKE CITY -- Researchers unveiled a new species of tyrannosaur Wednesday at the Natural History Museum of Utah.

The new species will go by the name Lythronax argestes. Paleontologists gave the carnivorous dinosaur the name because the first part translates to "king of gore."

Lythronax was discovered in southern Utah on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Scientists said this species has been found to preceed Tyrannosaurus rex.

Researchers said Lythronax would have lived nearly 80 million years ago in Laramidia, a landmass formed on the western coast of the shallow sea that flooded the central region of North America.

A full-length skeleton of Lythronax can be found in the Past Worlds Gallery at the Natural History Museum of Utah at the Rio Tinto Center in Salt Lake City.