Teratophoneus the Tyrannosaur

Teratophoneus curriei with young

Teratophoneus curriei was a tyrannosaur that was rather recently found in Southern Utah's Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  It was found in 75 million year old rock.  Paleontologists from the University of Utah think that some kind of barrier separated the Northern Theropods like Tyrannosaurus rex, Albertosaurus sarcophagus, & Daspletosaurus torosus.  The northern tyrannosaurs or tyrannosaurids had longer and narrower skulls with more teeth.  The southern Tyrannosaurids like Teratophoneus curriei had shorter skulls and less teeth than their northern cousins.  So some kind of geographical barrier, mountains or sea perhaps separated these two groups of tyrannosaurids and this led to differences in their evolution.

The Genus name, "Teratophoneus" means means "monstrous murderer".  The species name, "curiei"
is in honor of my former professor from University of Alberta's Phillip Curie.  He has done a great deal of work in dinosaur paleontology.  I took a few online classes that Dr. Curie helped teach.  These classes were via Coursera.  I highly recommend those courses.

Last Saturday and Sunday at the University of Utah there was a "Dinofest" activity and my wife and I attended and took notes.  LOTS of new things were shared so I will pass it on over the next few weeks...pass it on via this blog.  I learned more about Teratophoeus at one of the lectures.  I have seen the skull at the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology.

You will notice that I drew feathers on my drawing of Teratophoneus.  Dr. Mark Loewen spoke
about these tyrannosaurids in the western U.S.  . . . and even about similar dinosaurs in Europe and Asia.  Dr. Loewen thinks that it is possible that one day we will find feather impressions on a U.S.
tyrannosaurid.  .  . maybe even on a T. rex.  I have mentioned on a previous blog that this is a possibility.  So, I drew feathers on my drawing of Teratophoneus.  Maybe they did not have
feathers, but maybe they did!  Notice the shorter skull on my drawing.  Southern tyrannosaurs had
only 13 teeth in their maxilla or upper jaw...while northern tyrannosauids like T. rex had 14-15 teeth in their maxilla.

As far as size, Teratophoneus was quite a bit smaller than a T. rex.  An adult Teratophoneus weighed an estimated 5 tons or 2,000 lbs (4,535 kg).  Teratophoneus was about 25 feet long (7.62 meters).

I hope you enjoy coloring the Teratophoneus, the monstrous murderer.