Monday, December 5, 2011

Tyrannosaurus rex "Tyrant Lizard King"


Hail to the king baby! Once thought to be the largest land walking carnivore to ever exist on the planet, this creature could weigh up to 6400 kg and stretch almost 13 meters. Jaws lined with over 50 serrated teeth, this animal became one lean, mean, herbivore crunching machine roaming what is now southwest Canada and western United States. They lived about 68 to 66 million years ago (Cretaceous Period, Mesozoic Era).

This fossil cast is of the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at the Museum of the Rockies (MOR 980). The cast (CM 81336; acq. 2007) is on display next to the T.rex holotype (partially seen in bottom photo to the left) at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit. The original fossil (aka "Peck's Rex") was discovered by J. Keith Rigby, Jr. at the University of Notre Dame in 1997.