rex specimens ever found, with approximately 85 percent of the skeleton preserved. rex was 38 feet (11.6 meters) long, and scientists estimate that it weighed 4–5 tons, which is about 8,800–11,000 pounds. rex was a young adult when it died, about 18 years of age, and may not have been fully grown. It was then transferred to the Museum of the Rockies by the Corps for preparation and housing. A team of paleontologists from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont., led by paleontologist Jack Horner, excavated the fossil from 1989 to 1990. In 1988, Montana rancher Kathy Wankel found a fossil peeking out of the ground while hiking near the Fort Peck Reservoir. Army Corps of Engineers and will be displayed in D.C. rex is still formally in the care of the U.S. Although the Smithsonian also is a federal institution, the Nation’s T. That is why the museum is calling this specimen the Nation’s T. Any fossils found on federal land belong to the U.S. Technically, the people of the United States of America own this dinosaur. Birds first evolved in the Jurassic, as did the earliest tyrannosaurs. rex and birds had hollow bones and air sacs, and some members of the tyrannosaurid family even had feathers. rex specimen was 28 when it died and suffered many injuries over its lifetime.īirds are actually a type of dinosaur from the same group as T. Based on growth rings in fossil bones, scientists know that the longest-lived T. rex may have increased its size by up to about 1,500 pounds per year during the middle of its “teenage” growth spurt.Īfter reaching its adult size, a T. rex grew much faster than typical reptiles do today, and scientists estimate that it reached its full size in less than 20 years. They belonged to different families of predatory dinosaurs than T. Other species, such as Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus, were similar in size but lived earlier in the Cretaceous Period. rex was certainly the biggest two-legged predator in its Late Cretaceous ecosystem, and it was one of the largest predators ever to live on land. rex replaced the original grabbing function of its arms, which could then have evolved for other uses. Another theory is that the enormous head of T. rex’s arms became shorter as its head grew more massive to prevent the dinosaur from becoming top-heavy. rex used its arms, but they know that they were too short to help with eating. rex’s arms were powerfully muscled and ended in two mobile fingers with large claws. Still, 15 mph was fast enough to hunt down other large dinosaurs, most of which were designed for even slower movement. rex did not run but walked at speeds up to 15 mph. Recent computer models and other evidence suggest that T. rex had a good sense of smell, much like other predatory dinosaurs. rex’s olfactory bulbs (the part of the brain used to process smell) were large, and scientists believe that T. Because of its forward-facing eyes, it might have had better depth perception than most other predatory dinosaurs. rex had senses that were similar to those of its close relatives, birds and crocodiles. rex skulls and teeth reveal that it was a meat eater, and judging from its size, it could have eaten whatever animal it could catch or scavenge. Lush plant life supported a diverse animal community ranging from dinosaurs to mammals to insects. The global climate was also warmer than it is now. rex was alive?Īlthough the current landscape of Wyoming and Montana is dry and grassy, it probably resembled a Louisiana floodplain when T. rex lived about 66–68 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period in the western United States, including Montana and Wyoming. So, Tyrannosaurus rex was “King of the Tyrant Lizards.” “Tyrannosaurus” is Greek for “tyrant lizard,” and “rex” means “king” in Latin. What does the name “ Tyrannosaurus rex” mean? Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art.
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