NAME

Meaning - Tyrannosaurus rex means “tyrant lizard king”
Pronounced tie-RAN-o-SAWR-us rex
Named By - Henry Fairfield Osborn
When Named - 1905
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater) - T. rex ate large dinosaurs, like Triceratops
SIZE

Length - 40 feet (12.4 m) long
Height - 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6 m) tall
Weight - 5 to 7 tons
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 85-65 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossil have been found in the USA (in Montana, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming), Canada (Alberta and Saskatchewan), and east Asia (Mongolia).
FOSSILS

What was Found - About 30 incomplete T. rex fossils have been found. One T. rex footprint has been found, in an undisclosed location in New Mexico, USA. Fossilized T.rex dung has also been found.
Who Found the Fossils - The first T. rex was first found by Barnum Brown in 1902.
Where - The first T. rex was found in Hell Creek, Montana, USA, North America.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
  • Tetanura - advanced theropods
  • Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
  • Superfamily Maniraptoriformes - advanced coelurosaurs with a fused wrist bone
  • Family Tyrannosauroidea - huge predators with small arms and two-fingered hands (the third finger was very tiny). Tyrannosaurids include T. rex, Albertosaurus, Alectrosaurus, Alioramus, Chingkankousaurus, Daspletosaurus, Eotyrannus, Gorgosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Prodeinodon, Tarbosaurus, etc.
  • Genus Tyrannosaurus
  • Species T. rex (type species named by Osborn, 1905)
INTERESTING FACTS

Tyrannosaurus rex’s arms were only about 3 feet (1 m) long, and it had 2-fingered hands. T. rex had cone-shaped, serrated teeth that were continually replaced.
LINKS

A detailed page on T. rex.
More T. rex links.