Tyrannosaurus Rex: Fun Facts About a Serious Predator

When I coordinated educational activities at a dinosaur park, Tyrannosaurus rex was always the favorite dinosaur among the visiting children. Although they were quick to judge all the carnivores (meat-eaters) to be mean, T. rex (to friends), had a special place in their hearts.

With its size, power, and huge jaws, Tyrannosaurus rex (literally, "tyrant-lizard king") is what nightmares and horror movies are made of. Since some scientists speculate that Tyrannosaurus rex would not not have been a very effective hunter, a large part of its diet might have been the prey stolen from other dinosaurs or even carrion. In other words, Tyrannosaurus rex was opportunistic, eating what it could find.

Like other meat-eating dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex walked on strong hind legs and had small front legs, but with two fingers on each hand (most carnivores had three fingers on each hand). It seems that it would not even have been able to touch its own face with its front legs, and, if it ever fell over backwards, it would have been like a turtle on its back, unable to get up. Some paleontologists (dinosaur scientists) believe that the arms might have been completely useless. Others speculate that they might have been used to hold struggling prey animals or to hold a partner during sex.

Tyrannosaurids (dinosaurs in Tyrannosaurus rex's family) lived during the late Cretaceous period (65-80 million years ago) in Asia and in North America, where they were the top predators in their world. A top predator has to have an enormous, efficient mouth, and an enormous mouth requires an enormous skill. To support that skull, the thick, muscular neck of Tyrannosaurus rex was shorter than the necks of related dinosaurs. The mouth was full of thick serrated teeth.

Judging from the openings in the skull for the nerves that carry smell and vision perceptions to the brain, Tyrannosaurus rex must have had sharp senses of smell and sight, which would be expected from a successful predator.