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A tiny tyrannosaur dubbed the ‘harbinger of doom’ has been discovered in Utah

Posted at 11:35 AM, Feb 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-23 22:11:09-05

A new tyrannosaur fossil has been discovered in Utah — and it’s tiny compared to its more famous relative T. rex. The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Meet Moros intrepidus, a small tyrannosaur that lived in Utah’s Emery County during the Cretaceous period. At 96 million years old, it is the oldest Cretaceous tyrannosaur species yet discovered in North America. The find narrowed a 70-million-year gap in the tyrant dinosaur record.

And by small, think the size of a mule deer. Moros was only 3 or 4 feet tall at the hip. The specimen found was estimated at being more than seven years old and nearly full grown. It’s name means “harbinger of doom.”

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