The discovery of a new dinosaur is always exciting, especially when the new species turns out to be a cousin of the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex. The new species was named Lythronax Argestes and was discovered in 2009. Scientists have been studying it ever since. The fossil of the new dinosaur species was discovered in Utah and has a similar appearance to its T-Rex cousin.

The species is believed to have lived around 80 millions years ago. The group of researchers who were studying the fossil have finally finished identifying and preparing it and recently released information about the dinosaur and where and how it may have lived.

Lythronax Argestes lived during the Late Cretaceous Period and like his big cousin, he was a meat eater. According to researchers, it is the oldest tyrannosaurid ever found.

Randall Irmis, of the Natural History Museum of Utah, in Salt Lake City said, “We think that when the sea levels were high, [the waters] actually moved inland and isolated different areas of land and allowed the dinosaurs living in those diff areas to evolve separately, and that’s why we have so many different species.”

Scientists know that there were many different tyrannosaurid species, and fossils of only a few have been found. They are hoping to uncover more new tyrannosaurids in the future. In the mean time, if you want to see the fossil of this one, you will have to visit the Natural History Museum of Utah, where the fossil with be displayed.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.