Aviatyrannis

grandmother tyrant

• avia · Latin · grandmother (i.e. ancestor)
• tyrannis · Greek · tyrant

The name combines Latin "avia" (grandmother) with Greek "tyrannis" (tyrant). It was chosen to signal that this small theropod was an early, ancestral-type relative of the later tyrannosaurs. The species name, A. jurassica, refers to its Jurassic age.

Named by

Rauhut

Year named

2003

Period

Late Jurassic

Stage

Kimmeridgian

Found in

Guimarota coal mine, Leiria, Portugal

Known from fragmentary remains. It is generally regarded as a basal tyrannosauroid, possibly a proceratosaurid, though its exact placement has been debated.