Huge, T-Rex-like dinosaur named after Meraxes from House of the Dragon

Unlike Game of Thrones, which had only three dragons for all to love and fear, HBO's prequel series House of the Dragon is full of the flying, fire-breathing beasts. From giant Vhagar to graceful Syrax to noodle-necked Caraxes, these dragons are unique, dangerous, and weirdly lovable. Sure, they could tear you apart in the blink of an eye, but who hasn't watched the show and idly thought, 'I wish I could ride a dragon.'

I suspect some of the paleontologists on a 2022 dig in Argentina knew what I'm talking about. They came across a remarkably well-preserved skeleton of a dinosaur called Meraxes gigas, a massive predator with a five-foot-long skull, an enormous head full of "steak-knife teeth," and puny arms. All of this makes it sound a lot like a Tyrannosaurus rex, probably the most famous dinosaur to ever walk the earth, but Meraxes gigas was around tens of millions of years before the T. Rex, and is slightly smaller than what the Atlas Obscrua calls its "very distant cousin."

If the name "Meraxes" rings a bell, it's because that's the name of the red dragon that Rhaenys Targaryen rides on House of the Dragon. Rhaenys was atop Meraxes when she interrupted the coronation of King Aegon II Targaryen near the end of the show's first season:

Although the Meraxes gigas was discovered in 2022, Fire & Blood author George R.R. Martin only recently discovered that an ancient apex predator had been named after one of his creations, writing about it on his Not a Blog. "Well, this is cool. It would appear that I have my own dinosaur," he wrote. "He cannot fly or breathe fire, alas. (Though maybe that’s for the best)...Queen Rhaenys would have been very pleased. I know I am."

University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte called Meraxes gigas “a stunning and important new species.” That this skeleton is so well preserved can tell the scientists a lot about gaps in the fragmentary fossil record.

Before we go, let's address one of the most distinctive features of this type of dinosaur: the teeny-tiny little arms, a funny feature on a creature who probably doesn't appreciate being mocked. According to College of Charleston paleontologist Scott Persons, we only find the diminuitive arms weird because we, as humans, have an "arm bias." Arms are important to us so we think they must be important to all animals. But if you have jaws like the Meraxes gigas, what do you need arms for?

“Tiny arms were a normal thing for huge carnivores,” Brusatte said. “It’s still not clear why, but I suspect it is because the heads of these monsters became so big and strong that they took care of almost everything when it came to eating: grabbing and killing and slicing and devouring the prey. The big heads were a Swiss Army knife that could do it all.”

Scientists continue to study Meraxes gigas. As for Meraxes the dragon, known as the Red Queen, she'll return in the second season of House of the Dragon, which will premiere on HBO and Max on Sunday, June 16.

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