SALT LAKE CITY — Paleontologists on Wednesday unveiled a new dinosaur discovered four years ago in southern Utah that proves giant tyrant dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex were around 10 million years earlier than previously believed.

A full skeletal replica of the carnivore – the equivalent of the great uncle of the T. rex – was on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah alongside a 3-D model of the head and a large painted mural of the dinosaur roaming a shoreline.

It was the public’s first glimpse at the new species, which researchers named Lythronax argestes (LY’-throw-nax ar-GES’-tees). The first part of the name means “king of gore,” and the second part is derived from poet Homer’s southwest wind.

The fossils were found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in November 2009, and a team of paleontolo gists spent the past four years digging them up and traveling the world to confirm they were a new species.

Paleontologists believe the dinosaur lived 80 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period on a landmass in the flooded central region of North America.

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The discovery offers valuable new insight into the evolution of the ferocious tyrannosaurs that have been made famous in movies and captured the awe of school children and adults alike, said Thomas Holtz Jr., a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland department of geology.

“This shows that these big, banana-tooth bruisers go back to the very first days of the giant tyrant dinosaurs,” said Holtz, who reviewed the findings. “This one is the first example of these kind of dinosaurs being the ruler of the land.”

The new dinosaur likely was a bit smaller than the Tyrannosaurus rex but was otherwise similar, said Mark Loewen, a University of Utah paleontologist who co-authored a journal article about the discovery with fellow University of Utah paleontologist Randall Irmis.

It was 24 feet long and 8 feet tall at the hip, and was covered in scales and feathers, Loewen said. Asked what the carnivorous dinosaur ate, Loewen responded: “Whatever it wants.”

“That skull is designed for grabbing something, shaking it to death and tearing it apart,” he said.

The fossils were found by a seasonal paleontologist technician for the Bureau of Land Management who climbed up two cliffs and stopped at the base of a third in the national monument.

“I realized I was standing with bone all around me,” said Scott Richardson.


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