“ I can not imagine a natural world more terrifying than one heavily populated by Tyrannosaurus rex.” — Arthur Denison
Tyrannosaurus, from the Greek "τυραννόσαυρος", meaning 'tyrant lizard' is a species of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur found in the Rainy Basin. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, commonly abbreviated to T. rex, hails from what is now western North America.
Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus is a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs are small and retained only two digits. Although other theropods rival or exceed T. rex in size, it is the largest known tyrannosaurid and one of the largest known land predators, measuring over 12 metres (40 feet in length and up to 7.5 metric tons in weight.
Description
Tyrannosaurus is one of the largest land carnivores of all time, about 12 to 13 meters (40 to 43.3 feet) long, and 4.5-5 m (14-16.6 ft) tall, when fully-grown.
The T. rex skull measure up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in length. Compared to other theropods, the skull is heavily modified. The skull is extremely wide posteriorly, with a narrow snout, allowing some degree of binocular vision. Some of the bones, such as the nasals, are fused, preventing movement between them. Large fenestrae (openings) in the skull reduce weight and provide areas for muscle attachment. The bones themselves are massive, as are the serrated teeth which, rather than being bladelike, are oval in cross-section. Like other tyrannosaurids, T. rex displayes marked heterodonty, with the premaxillary teeth at the front of the upper jaw closely-packed and D-shaped in cross-section. T. rex has the greatest bite force of any dinosaur and one of the strongest bite forces of any animal.
Copperjaw vs. Stinktooth
The neck of T. rex formes a natural S-shaped curve like that of other theropods, but is short and muscular to support the massive head. The two-fingered forelimbs are very small relative to the size of the body, but heavily built. In contrast, the hindlimbs are among the longest in proportion to body size of any theropod. The tail is heavy and long, sometimes containing over forty vertebrae, in order to balance the massive head and torso. To compensate for the immense bulk of the animal, many bones throughout the skeleton are hollow. This reduces the weight of the skeleton while maintaining much of the strength of the bones.
Classification
Tyrannosaurus is the type genus of the superfamily Tyrannosauroidea, the family Tyrannosauridae, and the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae. Other members of the tyrannosaurine subfamily include Daspletosaurus and the Tarbosaurus, both of which have occasionally been synonymized with Tyrannosaurus. Tyrannosaurids were once commonly thought to be descendants of earlier large theropods such as megalosaurs and carnosaurs, although more recently they were reclassified with the generally smaller coelurosaurs.
Biology
Feeding strategies
Red-faced t.rex
Tyrannosaurus feeding strategies vary depending on species (or subspecies). For instance, while the tyrannosaurs of the Rainy Basin are cooperative predators; their cousins in the Blackwood Flats are scavengers.
Miniseries
Karl and David Scott see Tyrannosaurus rex when they are in an abandoned village. A huge foot crashes through the ceiling causing Karl, David, Marion , and several other villagers to run for their lives. They hide behind a damaged wall and a Tyrannosaurus snout is shown. Four Tyrannosaurus rex are shown outside of the village. The male with green stripes chases the characters until Marion trips. As the male Tyrannosaurus was about to kill her, a female Tyrannosaurus with orange stripes pushes the male to the side, fighting for the food. The male Tyrannosaurus turns on the female for pushing him and the two fight it out until a Skybax Rider, riding on Quetzalcoatlus , appears with his team. They lure the all four Tyrannosaurus away and into a safe part of the forest where they will not harm anyone.