On a dig in Utah, paleontologists discovered the fossil remains of what they're calling a “mega-predatory dinosaur,” one of the largest of its kind ever found in the United States.
Image by Jorge Gonzales
According to I Fucking Love Science, Dr. Lindsay Zanno from North Carolina State University has dubbed the creature Siats meekerorum, taking its first name from a ferocious man-eating monster of Utah's Native American folklore (yes, we know dinosaurs and humans never shared the planet together, but it's still an awesome handle), and its last name from the Meeker family, patrons of the Paleontology program at Chicago's Field Museum.
Siats is believed to have measured around 30 feet long and walked the earth around 100 million years ago between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, likely placing it at the top of the predatory food chain during that era. It may even have shared turf with a Tyrannosaur-like creature called Lythronax argestes– also recently discovered in Utah – and experts say its extinction might have paved the way for the T. Rex to take the big-boss spot.
Zanno published her findings in the journal Nature Communications, and hinted that new info about other animals from the same period will be coming soon.