Tyrannasorus rex

Tyrannasorus rex is an extinct species of hybosorid beetle and the sole member of the genus Tyrannasorus. The species is known from a single, presumably female fossil specimen found in the Dominican Republic. She was trapped in the amber resin of Hymenaea protera, a species of tree which is also now extinct. The most recent studies date Dominican amber to the Miocene epoch (15 to 20 million years ago). T. rex is broadly similar to modern-day hybosorids of genera Apalonychus and Coilodes, sharing their reddish-brown color and a rounded shape. The specimen is deposited at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The name of the species is a word play on the Tyrannosaurus rex, another, much larger extinct species.