( CNN ) -- Everyone is familiar with Tyrannosaurus rex , but humanity is only now meeting its much smaller Arctic cousin . Scientists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of dinosaur , based on remains found in Alaska . They are calling the species Nanuqsaurus hoglundi . This dinosaur lived about 70 million years ago , say paleontologists Anthony Fiorillo and Ronald Tykoski , at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas . Their study , published in the journal PLOS One , is aptly called `` A Diminutive New Tyrannosaur from the Top of the World . '' Researchers discovered the dinosaur 's remains in 2006 in the Prince Creek Formation on Alaska 's North Slope . At the same quarry , Fiorillo and Tykoski have previously uncovered other important finds , such as remnants of the horned dinosaur species Pachyrhinosaurs perotorum , whose discovery was announced in 2011 . `` I find it absolutely thrilling that there is another new dinosaur found in the polar region , '' Fiorillo said in a statement from the Perot Museum . `` It tells us that the ecosystem of ancient Arctic was a very different place , and it challenges everything we know about dinosaurs . '' What scientists know about Nanuqsaurus hoglundi comes from just a few fragments : The top part of a skull section , part of a lower jaw , and part of an upper facial jawbone . `` Nanuqsaurus '' loosely translates to `` polar bear lizard , '' according to the Perot Museum , and honors the Inupiat people whose territory traditionally includes where the dinosaur remnants were found . The `` hoglundi '' part honors Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist Forrest Hoglund . A Tyrannosaurus rex would have weighed between 7 and 8 tons , with a length of about 40 feet . By comparison , an adult Nanuqsaurus might have been only 25 feet long , with a weight of 1,000 pounds . The head was probably about 2 feet long , CNN affiliate WFAA reported . `` There were features in these specimens that were unique ; you did n't see them in other tyrannosaurs , '' Tykoski told WFAA . Study authors told the Perot Museum that the dinosaur may have been so small because of how isolated the area was , and how little food was likely available . At that time , planet Earth as a whole was warmer than it is today , but this particular area in Alaska would have been dark about half the year . `` Conditions in this setting were relatively warm , but there were profound to extreme seasonal changes in light regime throughout the year that would have limited resource availability and produced substantial variance in temperatures , '' study authors wrote . We know of other animals have clearly adapted to their environments by evolving in size over time , such as large Russian Arctic mammoths that evolved to be cow-sized . But why was this particular dinosaur , Nanuqsaurus hoglundi , living so far north on the globe ? Scientists have many more such questions to explore . In terms of investigating this polar region for more clues , as Fiorillo put it , this is just the tip of the iceberg . Biggest predator ever to stalk Europe : 4-inch teeth and 33 feet long .
Nanuqsaurus , is a newly discovered species . It lived on Greenland 's North Slope . The dinosaur was much smaller than its relative , the rex .