Open Paleo

Thanatotheristes

Voris et al., 2020 THA-nah-toe-theh-RISS-teez

From Greek Thanatos, "death", combined with Greek theristḗs, "harvester" — means "reaper of death" (literally "death harvester")

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Thanatotheristes is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Laramidia, approximately 80.1-79.5 Ma. Thanatotheristes contains only one species, T. degrootorum. Fossils of this taxon are found in the Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, coexisting with medium-sized ceratopsids like Xenoceratops foremostensis and small pachycephalosaurids like Colepiocephale lambei.

Diagnosis

  1. Single row of evenly-spaced dorsoventrally-oriented ridges on subcutaneous surface of maxilla ventral/anteroventral to antorbital fossa
  2. Rounded and inflated orbital margin of the jugal with oval cross-section
  3. Sagittal crest extends anterior to supratemporal ridge as broad, rounded ridge
  4. Lacrimal contact surface on frontal extends anteromedially at ~60° to interfrontal suture
  5. Prefrontal with two posteriorly-projecting prongs on ventral skull roof (medial primary, lateral secondary)

Species

Thanatotheristes degrootorum Voris et al., 2020

Type species

Named for John and Sandra De Groot, who discovered the type specimen in the Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada.

Holotype
TMP 2010.005.0007 , Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology
Material
Partial skull from subadult; includes right maxilla, right jugal, right postorbital, right surangular, right quadrate, right laterosphenoid, left frontal, and both dentaries (~800 mm skull length)
Horizon
Foremost Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
base of a steep cliff on the eastern shore of the Bow River, about 0.5 km upstream of the confluence with the Oldman River, Alberta, Canada

References

  1. Voris, J. T.; Therrien, F.; Zelenitsky, D. K.; Brown, C. M. (2020). A new tyrannosaurine (Theropoda:Tyrannosauridae) from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, provides insight into the evolution and biogeography of tyrannosaurids. Cretaceous Research 110. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104388 voris2020a