If you were a dinosaur living in North America during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, you did not want to cross paths with a T-Rex. The Tyrannosaurus Rex, aka the Lizard King, was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs to walk the earth. With a massive bite that could crush a car, no dino (not even a Spinosaurus) was safe when the T-Rex came to town.
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Some Quick Facts About the Tyrannosaurus Rex
| Name | Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Tyrant Lizard King |
| Type of dinosaur | Theropod |
| Territory | Grasslands, North America |
| Size | Large, 40 feet long, 12 feet tall, 11,000-15,000 pounds |
| Color | Black, brown, and grey |
| Interesting Characteristics | Massive dino, lived for about 30 years |
| Diet | Everything that moved! |
| Major Threats | Natural disasters |
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was a massive meat-eating theropod that lived during North America’s Jurassic and Late Cretaceous periods. As a dino at the top of the food chain, it eventually went extinct during the great extinction event 65 million years ago.
What Does The Tyrannosaurus Rex Name Mean?
Tyrannosaurus Rex means Tyrant Lizard King because it was one of the fiercest dinosaurs to walk the earth. When Barnum Brown unearthed the fossils in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana in 1902, he had never seen anything like them. It was a stunning dino discovery!
Around 34 more fossilized bones were found in Big Dry Creek, Montana, two years later, and the species Tyrannosaurus Rex, or the Lizard King, was born.
What Was The Tyrannosaurus Rex Like?
While the T-Rex wasn’t the largest dino of the late Cretaceous, it was undoubtedly the strongest and the most aggressive. As a carnivore, it would stalk the grasslands of North America looking for a meal. And as one of the most aggressive dinosaurs of the time, it would eat almost anything that moved.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was an apex predator, and even some of the fiercest dinos in North America during the late Cretaceous period knew better than to mess with the mighty T-Rex. Even dinosaurs like the Spinosaurus, larger than the T-Rex, would lose in a battle.
How Big Was The Tyrannosaurus Rex?
The Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the largest theropods to walk planet Earth. Just like all animals, some tyrannosaurs were bigger than others. The largest Tyrannosaurus Rex ever recorded was nicknamed Scotty, weighed almost 20,000 pounds, and measured 42 feet long.
Scotty was big for his size since most T-Rexes weigh between 11,000 and 15,000 pounds. On average, most T-Rexes stand around 12 feet tall and 40 feet long.
How Powerful Was The Tyrannosaurus Rex?
The mighty T-Rex is one of the most powerful dinos in history, thanks to its impressive jaw and bite force. What’s scary about the lower jaw of the T-Rex is that it could lower its jaw to a 90-degree angle to bite down on its prey with its razor-sharp teeth.
The T-Rex had a bite force of about 12,800 pounds per square inch, which makes it the strongest bite force of any land animal in history. The bite force of the T-Rex was so powerful that it could crush a metal car in its mouth!
Was There Another Dino Stronger Than The Tyrannosaurus Rex?
The T-Rex earned the name the Lizard King for a reason. Few dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous were as aggressive and powerful as the mighty T-Rex. It was even larger than notable dinos like:
- Carcharodontosaurus
- Tarbosaurus
- Giganotosaurus
- Allosaurus
- Daspletosaurus
However, there was one dinosaur that the T-Rex may have had trouble with in western North America, the Spinosaurus.
The Spinosaurus was a fellow carnivorous dinosaur that was larger than the T-Rex. While it was larger, it didn’t have a powerful bite. While the T-Rex has a bite force of 12,000 pounds per square inch, the Spinosaurus has a bite force of just 4,200 pounds per square inch.
What Did The Tyrannosaurus Rex Eat?
Undoubtedly, the T-Rex was a dangerous hunter that preyed on dinosaurs like the Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, and even fellow tyrannosaurids. It could reach up to 12 miles per hour to catch unsuspecting prey and chomp down with its impressive bite force.
However, paleontology believes that the T-Rex was also a scavenger. When food was scarce, the T-Rex would also eat the meat of dinosaurs that had died in battle or of natural causes.
Where Were The First T-Rex Fossils Discovered?
The first fossil records of the mighty Lizard King popped up in a notable dino graveyard in Hell Creek, Montana, in 1902. Barnum Brown, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History, unearthed an almost perfectly intact T-Rex skull at Big Dry Creek, Montana.
Other T-Rex specimens were later unearthed in South Dakota and as far north as Alberta, Canada. At the time, the type of dinosaur wasn’t yet classified by paleontologists.
It wasn’t until 1906 that Henry Fairfield Osborn classified these new specimens as the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex. If you want to see it in person, the Rex skeleton is on display at the Museum of the Rockies and the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago!
Can I Purchase A Tyrannosaurus Rex Fossil Today?
No, you can’t buy a T-Rex fossil. These theropod dinosaurs may have been very abundant during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but it’s forbidden by law to purchase or sell authentic dinosaur fossils.
So, how can you get your hands on a T-Rex fossil? Fossils uncovered from private land are your property. If you want a T-Rex fossil, start digging in your backyard!
6 Fun Facts About the Tyrannosaurus Rex
1. It was fast but didn’t run all that often. Given its massive size, paleontologists believe the T-Rex preferred walking briskly rather than running. Its massive body weight required a lot of energy to reach high speeds, so it’s unlikely that it ran.
2. The T-Rex had massive teeth. One of the largest T-Rex teeth discovered was almost 12 inches long!
3. The T-Rex had a lethal bite in more ways than one. If a T-Rex managed to bite down on its prey and survived, it would likely die in the following days or weeks. Since the T-Rex lived before the invention of dental floss, pieces of decaying meat became lodged in its teeth, creating a septic bite.
4. The life span of a T-Rex was only 30 years. Because the T-Rex had no natural predators, they likely died of old age. Paleontologists believe that the expected life span of the T-Rex was about 30 years.
5. It had a favorite meal. The T-Rex preferred to dine on the Triceratops. It’s likely because the Triceratops, like the T-Rex, were abundant in North America during the late Cretaceous period.
6. Jurassic Park got it wrong again. For the most part, Jurassic Park recreated the size and viciousness of the T-Rex perfectly, but there was one thing it got wrong: its speed. The top speed of the T-Rex was around 20 miles per hour, so there’s no way it could catch up to a Jeep!