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Size:
13 metres long
Weight: 6 tonnes
Distribution: North America.
Similar species found in Asia (Tarbosaurus)
Description: Probably
the best known of all dinosaurs, tyrannosaurus was a huge, carnivorous
dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period of 67-65 million years ago.
For many years it was believed to be the largest of all predatory
dinosaurs, until the discovery of the aptly named giganotosaurus in the
1990s. Despite it’s
obviously carnivorous nature, it is likely that the majority of
tyrannosaurus’s food was scavenged.
The body is not designed for a long chase and would not have been
able to run down all but the slowest of prey species.
It is also worth remembering that modern day lions often scavenge
more than they hunt. By
using their greater size and strength, they are able to frighten away
smaller carnivores. It is
possible that tyrannosaurus used the same tactic.
No other dinosaur of the time would have been capable of out
competing tyrannosaurus at a carcass.
However, healed bite marks have been found in the tail of a
dinosaur which have been matched as coming from the teeth of a
tyrannosaur. This proves
that tyrannosaurus was an active predator (at least at some point of
it’s life cycle) but also that the prey was able to escape and survive
the encounter. Maybe it
actively predated other animals when younger, but as it’s size (and
weight) increased later in life, it moved towards a scavenging
life-style. Tyrannosaurus
was amongst the last of the dinosaurs to exist before they all became
extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, bringing an end to the age of
dinosaurs and the start of the age of mammals. |
