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Meet the T. Rex Cousin Who You Could Literally Look Down on

by Associated Press

   Scientists have identified an early cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, a
   pipsqueak that only reached the 3-foot height of a toddler.

   The new dinosaur, found in New Mexico, is called Suskityrannus hazelae
   (SUE-ski-tie-ran-us HAY-zel-a), a name that uses a Native American word
   for coyote.

   Sterling Nesbitt, a paleontologist at Virginia Tech, said this dinosaur
   lived about 92 million years ago -- millions of years before T. rex. It
   weighed up to 90 pounds, almost nothing compared to the nine-ton king
   of the dinosaurs.

   Suskityrannus hazalae isn't the first or even smallest of the
   Tyrannosaurus family tree, but it provides the best example of how this
   family of modest-sized dinosaurs evolved into the towering horror of
   movies and nightmares.

   The findings were announced Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and
   Evolution.