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Tyrannosaurus Rex

By , About.com Guide

A reconstruction of a T. Rex head (Getty Images)

Name:

Tyrannosaurus Rex (Greek for "tyrant lizard king"); pronounced tih-RAN-oh-SORE-us REX

Habitat:

Forests and swamps of Asia and North America

Historical Period:

Late Cretaceous (70-65 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 40 feet long and 7 tons

Diet:

Other dinosaurs

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Large head with numerous teeth; stubby, almost vestigial arms

About Tyrannosaurus Rex:

T. Rex is by far the most popular of all dinosaurs, spawning a huge number of books, movies, TV shows and video games. What's truly amazing, though, is how much about this carnivore that was once assumed as fact has lately been called into question. (See current facts, figures and news about Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as a gallery of Tyrannosaurus Rex pictures and 10 Facts About T. Rex.)

For example, one controversy that's currently making the rounds among paleontologists is whether T. Rex was a hunter or scavenger. Some experts think T. Rex feasted on already dead prey, since it wasn't fast or smart enough to hunt other dinosaurs down--but it was equipped with features (such as a superior sense of smell) that are found in modern scavengers, like vultures. In another development, it's now believed that T. Rex may have succumbed to trichomonosis, a parasitic disease that affects modern birds.

As hinted above, we don't know for sure how speedy T. Rex was. Unlike the juggernaut of the Jurassic Park movies, it's possible that this dinosaur sprinted at a poky 10 miles per hour, max--meaning he'd find it hard to outrun a kid on a bicycle!

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