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Tyrannosaurus
Redirected from Tyrannosaurus rex
| Tyrannosaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous 68.5–65.5 Ma | |
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 Life restoration of a Tyrannosaurus rex. | |
| Scientific classification
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Tyrannosaurus (meaning 'tyrant lizard') is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur. The famous species Tyrannosaurus rex ('rex' meaning 'king' in Latin), commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture around the world. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils of T. rex are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the last three million years of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 70 to 65 million years ago; it was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.
Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were small, though unusually powerful for their size, and bore two clawed digits. Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded T. rex in size, it was the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators, measuring up to 15 meters (49.2 ft) in length,[1] up to 4 meters (13 ft) tall at the hips,[2] and up to 7 metric tons (8 short tons) in weight.[3] By far the largest carnivore in its environment, T. rex may have been an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, although some experts have suggested it was primarily a scavenger.
More than 30 specimens of T. rex have been identified, some of which are nearly complete skeletons. Soft tissue and proteins have been reported in at least one of these specimens. The abundance of fossil material has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including life history and biomechanics. The feeding habits, physiology and potential speed of T. rex are a few subjects of debate. Its taxonomy is also controversial, with some scientists considering Tarbosaurus bataar from Asia to represent a second species of Tyrannosaurus and others maintaining Tarbosaurus as a separate genus. Several other genera of North American tyrannosaurids have also been synonymized with Tyrannosaurus.
- ^ Brochu, Christopher A.; Richard A. Ketcham (2003). Osteology of Tyrannosaurus Rex: Insights from a Nearly Complete Skeleton and High-resolution Computed Tomographic Analysis of the Skull. Northbrook, Illinois: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. OCLC 51651461.
- ^ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedSueFMNH - ^ Erickson, Gregory M.; Makovicky, Peter J.; Currie, Philip J.; Norell, Mark A.; Yerby, Scott A.; & Brochu, Christopher A. (2004). "Gigantism and comparative life-history parameters of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs". Nature 430 (7001): 772–775. doi:.
