Daspletosaurini

Size of four daspletosaurin species compared to a human

Daspletosaurins were large predators, reaching around 9 metres (30 ft) in length.[1] However, they were not the largest tyrannosaurids, as more derived taxa, such as Tyrannosaurus, could reach lengths of more than 12 metres (39 ft).[4]

Daspletosaurini is diagnosed by characteristics such as the presence of an extremely coarse subcutaneous surface of the maxilla anteroventral to the antorbital fossa; a constricted jugal ramus of maxilla; the anteroventral corner of the maxilla tapers into a shallow angle (<65°) as measured between the alveolar margin of the first two alveoli and the anterior margin of the subcutaneous surface; a prefrontal that is broad in dorsal view and strongly dorsomedially arced in anterior view; a dentary chin located ventral to either the third alveolus or third interdental plate and possessing no fewer than 14 maxillary teeth.[2]

In the 2020 description of Thanatotheristes, Voris et al. erected Daspletosaurini as a new clade within Tyrannosauridae, as a sister taxon to a clade comprising Zhuchengtyrannus, Tarbosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. The cladogram below shows the results of the phylogenetic analyses performed by Voris et al. (2020):[2]

Tyrannosauridae	Albertosaurinae Gorgosaurus Albertosaurus Tyrannosaurinae Alioramini Qianzhousaurus Alioramus remotus Alioramus altai Teratophoneus Dynamoterror Lythronax Nanuqsaurus Daspletosaurini Thanatotheristes Daspletosaurus torosus Daspletosaurus horneri Zhuchengtyrannus Tarbosaurus Tyrannosaurus

In 2022, Warshaw & Fowler proposed that the three Daspletosaurus species evolved through anagenesis in the Tyrannosaurinae in a line leading to Zhuchengtyrannus, Tarbosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Due to their more fragmentary nature, Thanatotheristes and Nanuqsaurus were excluded from this analysis. The cladogram below shows the results of the phylogenetic analysis performed by Warshaw & Fowler (2022).[3]

Tyrannosaurinae	Alioramus remotus Alioramus altai Qianzhousaurus Dynamoterror Teratophoneus Lythronax Daspletosaurus torosus Daspletosaurus wilsoni Daspletosaurus horneri Zhuchengtyrannus Tarbosaurus Tyrannosaurus