Animal Profiles
Reptiles

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus rex

Extinct

This animal is extinct. No living individuals remain.

Status source

Tyrannosaurus rex was a giant predatory dinosaur of Late Cretaceous North America. A massive head and powerful jaws dominated a body balanced by strong hind limbs and a long tail.

Tyrannosaurus Rex, AI-generated lifelike reconstruction
AI-generated reconstruction. Colors and soft tissues are interpretive.

At a glance

Diet
Carnivore
Food
Other dinosaurs and carrion.

Classification

Common name
Tyrannosaurus Rex
Browse group
Reptiles
Scientific name or taxon
Tyrannosaurus rex
Taxon rank
species
Family
Tyrannosauridae
Genus
Tyrannosaurus
Source classification
Reptilia

Taxonomy checked against GBIF. For breeds and hybrids, this describes the listed parent taxon.

Three things to know

  • Its teeth could crush bone.
  • It had small forelimbs.
  • Fossil dung preserves evidence of its food.

Habitat and range

Tyrannosaurus rex fossils are known from the United States and Canada. The species lived near the end of the Cretaceous, sharing terrestrial ecosystems with large plant-eating dinosaurs.

Appearance and adaptations

Thick, serrated teeth and a deep skull supported powerful bites. The forelimbs were small compared with the hind limbs, but their exact roles are still debated.

Diet and behaviour

Bite marks on herbivore bones and bone fragments in fossil dung show feeding on other dinosaurs. Hunting and scavenging were both plausible food-gathering strategies. Whether individuals routinely cooperated remains unresolved.

Sources

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