Tyrannosaurus Rex: The King of the Dinosaurs!

Say that name out loud: Tie-RAN-oh-SORE-us Rex. Pretty cool, right? It means "Tyrant Lizard King" in Latin, and honestly? It earned that name.

When did it live?

T. rex stomped around Earth about 66 to 68 million years ago — long, long before humans, pyramids, or even ice cream existed. It lived during a time called the Late Cretaceous period, mostly in the warm, swampy forests of what is now North America.

How BIG was it?

Imagine two large cars parked bumper to bumper. That's how long a T. rex was — about 12 metres from its enormous nose to the tip of its tail. It stood roughly 4 metres tall at the hips, which means it could peer right into a second-floor window without even trying.

It weighed around 9 tonnes. That's the same as two full-grown African elephants standing on top of each other. No wonder the ground shook when it walked!

Those terrifying teeth!

A T. rex had up to 60 teeth, and each one could be 20 centimetres long — about the length of your forearm! The teeth weren't just big; they were shaped like bananas with serrated edges, perfect for crushing bone. Scientists think its bite was the most powerful of any land animal that ever lived — strong enough to bite clean through a car roof.

If a tooth fell out, a new one grew back. Handy!

Tiny arms — big mystery!

Here's something funny: for all its terrifying size, T. rex had absolutely tiny arms. Each arm was only about one metre long, with just two stubby fingers. Could they scratch an itch? Maybe. Were they useful in a fight? Probably not much. Scientists still argue about what those little arms were actually for. Some think they helped the dinosaur get up from the ground. Others think they were used to hold prey close. Nobody knows for certain — and that mystery is part of what makes T. rex so fascinating!

Was it fast?

You might imagine a T. rex charging at full speed like something from a movie. The reality is a little more complicated. Scientists now think it probably moved at around 25 kilometres per hour — roughly the pace of a fast human jogger. It had massive, heavy legs built for power, not sprinting. If you saw one coming, your best plan probably wouldn't be to outrun it — it would be to hide!

What did it eat?

T. rex was a carnivore — a meat eater. It hunted large plant-eating dinosaurs like Triceratops and Edmontosaurus. But it wasn't just a hunter. Scientists have found evidence that T. rex also scavenged, meaning it would eat animals that were already dead. Think of it as nature's biggest clean-up crew — with really bad breath.

Could it smell you coming?

Yes — and from a very long way away! T. rex had an incredibly powerful sense of smell, possibly the best of any dinosaur. The part of its brain dedicated to smell was huge. Its eyesight was also excellent — much better than a modern eagle's. Some scientists think it could spot you from over a kilometre away. Yikes.

How do we know all this?

Everything we know about T. rex comes from fossils — the preserved bones, teeth, and footprints left behind millions of years ago. The first T. rex skeleton was discovered in 1902 by a fossil hunter named Barnum Brown. Since then, scientists called palaeontologists have pieced together an incredible picture of this ancient predator.

One famous fossil, nicknamed "Sue", is the largest and most complete T. rex ever found. You can visit Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago — if you dare!

Quick dino facts!

T. rex could live up to 30 years old
Its closest living relatives are birds — yes, really!
Some scientists think T. rex may have had feathers, at least when it was young
A T. rex's brain was roughly the size of a large orange

T. rex ruled its world for millions of years — powerful, clever, and absolutely enormous. It may be long gone, but thanks to fossils and brilliant scientists, the King of the Dinosaurs lives on forever.

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