A new species of tyrannosaur from southern North America that may the closest known relative of Tyrannosaurus rex is described in a study published in Scientific Reports.

Sebastian Dalman and colleagues identified the new species—which they have named Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis—by examining a fossilized partial skull, which was previously discovered in the Hall Lake Formation, New Mexico, U.S.

Although these remains were initially assigned to T. rex and are comparable in size to those of T. rex (which was up to 12 meters long), the authors propose that they belong to a new species due to the presence of multiple subtle differences in the shape of, and joins between, the skull bones of the specimen and T. rex.