Open Paleo

Suskityrannus

Nesbitt et al., 2019 SOO-skee-TY-ran-us

From Zuni suski, "coyote", combined with Greek tyrannos, "tyrant" — means "coyote tyrant"

93.9–89.8 million years ago Turonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Suskityrannus is a genus of small tyrannosauroid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of southern Laramidia. It contains a single species, Suskityrannus hazelae, and the type specimen was found in the Turonian-aged Moreno Hill Formation of the Zuni Basin in western New Mexico.

Diagnosis

  1. Distal femoral condyles strongly mediolaterally compressed with crista tibiofibularis merging smoothly into lateral condyle
  2. Medial condyle of proximal tibia hooked posteromedially
  3. D-shaped, incisiform and carinate premaxillary teeth
  4. Anteroposteriorly shortened premaxilla (less than 10% of maxilla length)
  5. Cervical vertebrae neural arches X-shaped in dorsal view with anteroposteriorly short neural spine
  6. Arctometatarsalian pes with metatarsal III pinched between II and IV (earliest record in tyrannosauroids)

Species

Suskityrannus hazelae Nesbitt et al., 2019

Type species

Named for Hazel Wolfe, whose efforts and support made possible much of the success at the Moreno Hill fossil localities.

Holotype
MSM P4754 , Arizona Museum of Natural History (formerly Mesa Southwest Museum)
Material
Partially articulated skull and a few postcranial bones
Horizon
lower Moreno Hill Formation, Turonian, Late Cretaceous , 93.9–89.8 million years ago
Locality
Mirror Mesa, New Mexico, United States

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Zunityrannus junior subjective Renamed and redescribed as Suskityrannus; Zunityrannus remains a nomen nudum.

References

  1. Nesbitt, S. J.; Denton, R. K.; Loewen, M. A.; Brusatte, S. L.; Smith, N. D.; Turner, A. H.; Kirkland, J. I.; McDonald, A. T.; Wolfe, D. G. (2019). A mid-Cretaceous tyrannosauroid and the origin of North American end-Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3(6): 892-899. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0888-0 nesbitt2019a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    jones2026c