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TYRANNOSAURUS
rex |
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Oil
painting : 24" x 30"
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TYRANNOSAURUS
rex
Tyrannosaurus rex, probably the most famous dinosaur ever, was a
member of the family Tyrannosauridae. It was a theropod, a saurischian
dinosaur, that belongs to the one of the largest terrestrial carnivores of
all time. This "tyrant lizard" is the best known of all dinosaurs. T-rex was
one of the most awesome creatures, that have walked on the earth. Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs, but it
is still debated, whether it was an active hunter or a scavenger.
It probably fed on decaying bodies of dead dinosaurs, like most carnivores. T-rex probably lived in forests, in a humid,
semi-tropical environment. Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal, it walked on two muscular legs. Each foot had three
large toes, all with claws, and it also had a dewclaw. Its arms were small,
each with two fingers. Tyrannosaurus rex had very large head, a short neck and a slim tail;
its skull was up to 5 feet (1,5 m) long. Its eyes were faced forward, it
could focus them directly to the front. Its teeth in large jaws were sharp,
jagged and 6 inch (15 cm) long. It is known, on the base of fossilized
specimens, that Tyrannosaurus rex had "lightly pebbled skin", bumpy, like an
alligator. Its brain was comparable in size to those of modern reptiles.
The first complete T-rex skeleton was discovered in 1902, and many great examples have been unearthed over the last 15 years.
TIME
- 65 - 68MYA, Late Cretaceous period.
RANGE
- USA Colorado, Montana, N. Dakota
New Mexico, Wyoming.
Canada Alberta, Saskatchewan.
DIET
- The T-rex was a carnivore.
SIZE
- Height up to 20ft (6m) and lengths up to 49ft(15m)..
WEIGHT
- 6.5 US tons.
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* Also see:
Tyrannosaurus with
young, Tyrannosaurus
with Triceratops,
and
Albertosaurus
with Corythosaurus.
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