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Tyrannosaurus rex. A killer that could rip away 500 pounds of flesh in a single bite.
— The narrator, introducing Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, about 72-66 mya (million years ago). Widely known as T. rex (or, incorrectly, T. Rex or T-Rex), the name Tyrannosaurus rex means "Tyrant lizard king" in Greek. The undisputed "king of the dinosaurs", T. rex is among the best known prehistoric animals to have ever lived.

In Dinosaur Planet[]

"Little Das' Hunt"[]

Tyrannosaurus makes two minor appearances in Little Das' Hunt. First, Tyrannosaurus is the main subject of the first Palaeontology Segment, where Scott Sampson discusses T. rex and its speed. An original model is not shown at this point; only stock footage from Discovery's earlier documentaries from 2001 (When Dinosaurs Roamed America and Valley of the T-Rex) are shown, just with replaced sound effects.

At the end of the episode, which fast forwards to 68 million years ago, it has shown that Daspletosaurus has evolved into Tyrannosaurus rex. During the scene, a mother T. rex and her male offspring watch as two adolescent Edmontosaurus move together. One of the adolescents turns and looks at the juvenile T. rex, while the juvenile T. rex roars towards it as the episode ends.

In Palaeontology[]

In real life, the largest specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex measured around 13 meters (43 feet) long, standing 4 meters (13 feet) tall, and weighed about 8 tons (7,620 kg), meaning this dinosaur was one of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever to have existed. It was perhaps the largest terrestrial carnivore in North America as well as the largest member of the Tyrannosaur family. The largest T. rex skulls measure up to 1.53 meters (5 feet) in length, not as long as some other skull lengths of carnivores such as Carcharodontosaurus, but still massive.

Errors[]

  • Tyrannosaurus did not evolve from Daspletosaurus as the episode suggests, that is until the recent discovery of D. wilsoni, which is considered to be direct ancestor of Tyrannosaurus.
  • The episode puts Tyrannosaurus in The Two Medicine Formation when specimens have only been found in The Hell Creek and Lance Formation.
  • The juvenile Tyrannosaurus has the same proportions as the adult when fossil evidence shows that juvenile Tyrannosaurs looked very different from the adults.
  • They are the largest theropods, next to the Carcharodontosaurs, in the series.
  • Tyrannosaurus did not roar but instead communicated with its mouth shut, as recent evidence suggests.

Gallery[]

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