Thanatotheristes is a new cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex, discovered in Canada, a new species of tyrant dinosaur that was identified during the Cretaceous period, which existed between 145 million and 65 million years ago.

It is a ferocious carnivorous dinosaur with serrated teeth and a face that scientists call a "grim reaper", discovered in Alberta, Canada.

At 79.5 million years old fossils , Thanatotheristes degrootorum is the oldest known tyrant dinosaur in archaeological records in northern North America, an area including Canada and the northern part of the western United States, the Researchers of a new study on this discovery said.

 It is also the first known dinosaur tyrant, discovered in Canada in 50 years. "It will certainly be a pretty animal ..." majestic ", about 2.4m high," lead researcher Jared Voris, a PhD student in paleontology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, told Live Science.

The big beast has sharp teeth like a 7cm long steak knife. From muzzle to tail, the dinosaur was about 8m long.

Thanatotheristes has a monstrous face and jagged teeth. Sketch: Julius Scotonyi / Royal Tyrrell Museum.

With only two skulls and a jaw in the hand, the researchers could not calculate to estimate the weight of the animal, but the fossils were excavated enough to identify the creature as a newly discovered species. Like other tyrant dinosaurs, Thanatos (Greek for death) has strange bumps on the skull and monstrous appearance. But it also has a unique feature in its place, a strip of vertical ribs on either side of its muzzle.

Parts of the skull and jaw of the dinosaur were discovered by Canadian couple John and Sandra De Groot in Hays, Alberta, who discovered the dinosaur’s fossil in 2010 on the banks of the Bow River, the region Southern Alberta.