There is no doubt about it, Tyrannosaurus Rex, or T Rex for short, owns the top spot in the world of dinosaurs. Whether this was actually the case back in the Cretaceous is open to debate, but in our popular imaginations he is indeed the king. King of the Tyrant Lizards is the literal translation of his name, which was given to him by Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, back in 1905. T Rex has been top of the pops ever since, showing up in films, books, TV shows and every other form of media since the first skeleton was discovered back in 1902.
Tyrannosaurs at the Museum of the Rockies
One big, ornery critter who is intent on eating the visitors
So what is so great about T Rex? Well, if you haven’t seen the movie Jurassic Park, you have been missing out, as there, in all his CGI glory, is one big, ornery critter who is intent on eating the visitors to the park for dinner. And there is little doubt that he must have been as imposing in real life. There are perhaps bigger dinosaurs, there are faster dinosaurs, but the combination of size, speed and a mouthful of dagger-like teeth, along with a powerful bite, makes him one of the top predators of the Cretaceous. Who wouldn't be impressed by that?
A 3/4 scale model of T Rex called Marmaduke
Dinoman is currently building a 3/4 scale model of T Rex called Marmaduke, and he is very near completion and is about to go to the DinoZone Museum and Geopark and is awaiting your visit. Go and see the building and fun that was had in creating Marmaduke here.
The largest T Rex ever found is Sue, who is 12.3 m long and stands 4 m high at the hips. She is currently displayed in the Field Museum, Chicago.
Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex in the Field Museum in Chicago
Sue weighed in at an estimated 7 tonnes, which by comparison to a full grown African elephant weighing in at 5 tonnes, is one very big beast.
T Rex's large head and body was counterbalanced by a long, powerful tail, all held up by strong thighs that could power him along at speeds up to 40 km/hr. So those smaller dinosaurs on which he preyed either had to be pretty fast, or had to have some other kind of defence mechanisms against the King of the Cretaceous.
A jaw stuffed full of thick, bone-crunching, flesh-tearing teeth
T rex had a 1.2 m long jaw stuffed full of thick, conical, bone-crunching, flesh-tearing teeth up to 23 cm in length. His arms are the butt of all dinosaur jokes as they were very short (about as long as a humans). They did have sharp claws but these were not very much used when hunting or fighting due to his short arms. His real weapons were his teeth. Each foot had claws much like the foot of a chicken or ostrich.
grabbing a free meal
T Rex was a carnivore - that is, a meat eater - and hunted his prey. There are theories that she was a scavenger but this is not widely accepted. That said he was probably not averse to grabbing a free meal of rotting flesh or rustling someone else's dinner if the opportunity presented itself along the way.
Vital Statistics
Late Cretaceous (68 to 66 million years ago). So Jurassic Park is wrong - T Rex wasn't around during the Jurassic.
Western North America, which then was an island continent named Laramidia.
The first Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil was discovered by Barnum Brown in 1902 and was named in 1905 by Henry Fairfield Osborn, then head of the American Museum of Natural History
And seeing that you are here, grab yourself a copy of our free colouring book, which is full of wonderful dinosaurs and other Mesozoic creatures for you to bring back to life.
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Hours of creative fun for all the kids in your world. Splash colour across the Mesozoic to make it your own.
