[Rockhounds] T. rex’s older and equally sizable relative discovered in New Mexico

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

A formerly unknown relative of the most iconic of all dinosaurs,
Tyrannosaurus rex, has been newly identified, according to a study released
Thursday. The revelation adds a new clue that could help paleontologists
unravel another step in the evolutionary chain that ended with the massive
predatory tyrannosaur, T. rex.
Called Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis, the creature likely roamed Earth up to 7
million years before T. rex emerged. The bones have been dated to 72
million to 73 million years old during the late Campanian-early
Maastrichtian Period.
But Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis’ bones were discovered decades before the
creature officially got its scientific name. About one-quarter of its
fossilized skull was found over the course of the 1980s and early ’90s in
an area now known as Elephant Butte, New Mexico. Because of the size of the
specimens, the bones were originally categorized by the New Mexico Museum
of Natural History & Science as T. rex, which grew up to 39 feet (12
meters) long and 10 tons in weight.
There were two big differences between T. rex and T. mcraeensis.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/12/americas/tyrannosaurus-giant-new-species-scn/index.html