Dynamoterror (meaning "powerful terror") is a monospecific genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (lower Campanian age, 78 Ma) in what is now the upper Allison Member of the Menefee Formation.

The type and only species, Dynamoterror dynastes, is known from a subadult or adult individual about 9 metres (30 feet) long with an incomplete associated skeleton.

It was named in 2018 by Andrew T. McDonald, Douglas G. Wolfe and Alton C. Dooley, Jr.[1] Dynamoterror was closely related to Teratophoneus and Lythronax.

[2] In August 2012, a partial skeleton of a tyrannosaurid was discovered and collected from the Lower Campanian Allison Member of the Menefee Formation in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico.

The remains were found by geology students Brian Watkins and Eric Gutiérrez on an expedition led by Andrew McDonald of the Western Science Center, and Douglas Wolfe, the CEO of the Zuni Dinosaur Institute for Geosciences.

[1] McDonald et al. (2018) originally diagnosed Dynamoterror based on the prefrontonasal and prefrontolacrimal processes being in close proximity to each other, separated only by a shallow notch, and the presence of a subrectangular, concave, laterally-projecting caudal part of the postorbital suture, separated from the rostral part by a deep groove.

The prefrontolacrimal process differs from that of Nanuqsaurus and Teratophoneus by its smaller size, but is similar to that of Lythronax, Daspletosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Tarbosaurus.

The fossae form the rear extent of the olfactory region of the nasal cavity, which would have been lined with a mucous membrane in life.

[1] The medial surface of the frontal possesses a vertical interfrontal suture that consists of a series of overlapping, V-shaped ridges.

The caudal part of the postorbital suture is subrectangular and slightly concave, which is unique to Dynamoterror, but might be subject to ontogenetic variation.

Based on comparisons of the ilia of Teratophoneus and Tyrannosaurus, a broadly arched bone fragment was identified as the supraacetabular crest of the right ilium.

The right metacarpal II is nearly straight and the articular surface nearest to the centre tapers and curves towards its upper side margin.

[1] McDonald et al. (2018) originally placed Dynamoterror within Tyrannosaurinae, in a polytomy with Lythronax, Nanuqsaurus, Teratophoneus, Daspletosaurus, Zhuchengtyrannus, and a clade containing Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.

The authors also suggested that the area of origin for the large-bodied tyrannosaurine clade is difficult to determine due to the small amount of tyrannosauroid specimens known from the Campanian of Asia and the lack of diagnostic early tyrannosaurid material from northern Laramidia.

[2] Dryptosaurus aquilunguis Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis Bistahieversor sealeyi Gorgosaurus libratus Albertosaurus sarcophagus Qianzhousaurus sinensis Alioramus remotus Alioramus altai Teratophoneus curriei Dynamoterror dynastes Lythronax argestes Nanuqsaurus hoglundi Thanatotheristes degrootorum Daspletosaurus torosus Daspletosaurus horneri Zhuchengtyrannus magnus Tarbosaurus bataar Tyrannosaurus rex The results of an earlier analysis by McDonald et al. (2018) are reproduced below.

[1] Albertosaurus sarcophagus Gorgosaurus libratus Qianzhousaurus sinensis Alioramus remotus Alioramus altai Lythronax argestes Dynamoterror dynastes Nanuqsaurus hoglundi Teratophoneus curriei Daspletosaurus torosus Daspletosaurus horneri Zhuchengtyrannus magnus Tarbosaurus bataar Tyrannosaurus rex Dynamoterror is known from the upper Allison Member of the Menefee Formation which has been dated to the lower Campanian age, about 78.5 Ma.

The sandstones that compose the Menefee Formation are fixed within carbonaceous shales of coastal swamp or lagoon origin and are thought to have been created by flood tidal deltas that ran north and east across New Mexico and towards the retreating Western Interior Seaway.