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The tyrannosaur species identified from fossils in Canada is Thanatotheristes degrootorum, named in 2020 from fragmentary skull and jaw fossils found in Alberta. Its distinctive ridges along the upper jaw helped researchers distinguish it from other tyrannosaurs. It is not a species newly announced in 2026.
What is Thanatotheristes degrootorum?
Thanatotheristes degrootorum is a tyrannosaurine dinosaur described in a 2020 scientific paper from fossils in Alberta. The Royal Tyrrell Museum explains that Thanatotheristes means “reaper of death”; degrootorum honors John and Sandra De Groot, the ranchers who found the fossil. The paper discusses the species in the context of tyrannosaur evolution and biogeography during an interval of the North American fossil record that is relatively poorly represented. Read the scientific description.
Where and when was it found?
John and Sandra De Groot collected the jaw fossils along the Bow River in Alberta in 2008. The fossils entered the Royal Tyrrell Museum collection in 2010. Jared Voris recognized distinctive features while studying the museum collection in 2018; the species was formally described in 2020.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe Royal Tyrrell Museum’s 2022 factsheet dates the animal to 79.5 million years ago, in the Campanian-age Foremost Formation of Alberta. The museum describes it as the oldest of five tyrannosaur species then known from Alberta and says it lived 11 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex. Those are the museum’s comparisons; they do not mean it was the oldest tyrannosaur ever discovered worldwide. See the Royal Tyrrell Museum factsheet.
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How did palaeontologists recognize a new species?
The fossils are incomplete, but they preserve features researchers could compare with other tyrannosaurs. The distinctive upper-jaw ridges were particularly important. In an interview with Canadian Geographic, lead author Jared Voris described them as “vertical ridges that run the whole length of the jaw.” The combination of distinguishing skull and jaw characteristics supported recognizing the fossils as a separate species rather than simply assigning them to a known Alberta tyrannosaur. Canadian Geographic’s account includes comments from Voris and other study authors.
Is the 2026 British Columbia tyrannosaur report the same discovery?
No. A paper published October 1, 2026, describes a juvenile Gorgosaurus libratus specimen from British Columbia. Its abstract calls it the first tyrannosaurid species identified from that province, a statement about the province’s first reported identification—not a claim that researchers named a new species. Thanatotheristes degrootorum is the distinct Alberta species formally described in 2020. Read the British Columbia specimen paper.
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Why does the discovery matter?
The species adds evidence about tyrannosaurs in Alberta during a part of the Late Cretaceous for which the regional fossil record is comparatively limited. University of Calgary professor and co-author Darla Zelenitsky told Canadian Geographic: “This discovery is significant in that it adds to what we know about this poorly-known ecosystem in the Late Cretaceous of Alberta.” Co-author Caleb Brown, a Royal Tyrrell Museum curator, said it would have been the large carnivore of its time, feeding on animals such as duck-billed and horned dinosaurs.
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