Fun Tyrannosaurus Rex Facts For Kids

T rex, also known as the king of tyrant lizards, is by far the most famous dinosaur. It has had a strong fan base since its appearance in Jurassic Park.

It lived on earth 83.6-66 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period and is one of the largest carnivorous animals ever to have walked the Earth.

Fossils of this dinosaur were discovered by Barnum Brown in 1906.

Did you know, the largest and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus specimen (Tyrannosaurus sue), which was 90% complete, was sold by the Sotheby's to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago for $8.36 million! If you ever want to see a tyrannosaurus rex skeleton head to Berlin's Natural History Museum where there is one on display.

If you like this article do check out our other articles on Bistahieversor and Dyoplosaurus.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Tyrannosaurus Rex'?

Their name is pronounced as 'tuh-ran-uh-saw-ruhs-rex'.

What type of dinosaur was a Tyrannosaurus Rex?

This dinosaur was a tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur. Besides tyrannosaurs, other members of the tyrannosaurine subfamily include the North American Daspletosaurus, the Asian Tarbosaurus, and Albertosaurus.

In which geological period did the Tyrannosaurus Rex roam the Earth?

It existed during the Late Cretaceous period.

When did Tyrannosaurus Rex become extinct?

It became extinct 65 million years ago during the K-Pg extinction which resulted from a massive meteor collision that triggered a series of events including widespread forest fires and tsunamis. This wiped out almost 80% of life on the planet including T rex.

Where did Tyrannosaurus Rex live?

A partial skeleton of t rex was excavated in the Hell Creek Formation (Montana). Other fossils suggest that they lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous epoch.

What was the Tyrannosaurus Rex's habitat?

They were probably spread across a wide range of habitats. An article suggests that they preferred regions with high humidity and semi-tropical temperatures. They inhabited coastal swamps and open forests. They likely stayed near water sources where the availability of prey was abundant.

Who did Tyrannosaurus Rex live with?

Based on the information from research, whether T rex was solitary or a team player is still very debatable.

Some pieces of evidence based on their relationships with closely related dinosaurs suggest that they lived as a group and that despite being large they were at the risk of being attacked by dinosaurs, like Spinosaurus, and hence would have lived in packs.

Another site states that they were large enough to manage these predators and the general rule is that almost all carnivorous dinosaurs were solitary.

How long did a Tyrannosaurus Rex live?

Tyrannosaurus rex had a life expectancy of about 28 years. It roamed the Earth for 2.5 billion million years.

How did they reproduce?

Researchers suggest that the Tyrannosaurus rex embryo would have measured around 17 in (43 cm). This dinosaur reproduced by laying eggs, at least 15-20 eggs.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Fun Facts

What did the Tyrannosaurus Rex look like?

These dinosaurs were the largest carnivores to ever have occurred. The Tyrannosaurus rex skull measured 5 ft (1.52 m) in length. The skull had a large opening to lessen its weight.

It had massive bones however all these bones consisted of air sacs which aided in reducing the overall weight of this species. The legs were long and strong while the arms were short with only two fingers. The claws were extremely sharp and curved.

Unlike other tyrannosauroids, the jaws of this species were U-shaped which aided in ripping their prey apart. The body keeps getting wider from the head.

The hindside is well built and has a thick tail to balance the overall weight of the body. They probably had feathers covering most of the body. They might have been sexually dimorphic.

It might have been reddish-brown in color. They had 60 serrated teeth with each of the teeth in varying shapes. The longest teeth along with the root were 12 in (30 cm) long.

How many bones did a Tyrannosaurus Rex have?

The tyrant lizard king must have had around 200 bones. This is just an approximation based on the discovered fossil.

How did they communicate?

T rex, just like all other dinosaurs would have communicated vocally and visually. It probably made sounds like growls and hoots along with somebody's gestures to communicate messages. The olfactory bulbs of this dinosaur were huge which means it had a keen sense of smell which might have helped in identifying prey and fellow species.

How big was the Tyrannosaurus Rex?

T rex was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs measuring 40 ft (12 m) in length and 12 ft (3.96 m) in height. From the growth rings, it is evident that T rex grew twice as much in a short span.

It probably was the size of an adult in its early teen years. It is six times the length of a Nomingia.

How fast could a Tyrannosaurus Rex move?

They were nonavian dinosaurs that only moved using two legs. Despite having strong, well-built legs, T rex was not a quick mover.

Considering their weight it was rather slow. It would maintain a pace similar to that of a human. Research conducted by paleontologist William Sellers of the University of Manchester along with his team estimated that this brisk walker ould have traveled at a speed of 2.8 mph (4.6 kph).

How much did a Tyrannosaurus Rex weigh?

Being one of the biggest dinosaurs it was pretty heavy. Based on the fossils, it must have weighed between 9920-17,636 lbs (4,500–8,000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

They might have been sexually dimorphic. There is still active research going on about this topic. However, from previous observations, some of the specimens were solidly built while the others were slender. They have no sex-specific names.

What would you call a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex?

The baby T rex can be called a hatchling and was capable of catching prey. This was due to the arm size which was a perfect match to allow it to hunt well without the aid of the adults.

What did they eat?

Their diet varied from time to time. It mostly depended on what was available as it could not afford to be picky with its food. It was gigantic and had to consume a lot to stay active.

It ate small dinosaurs, juveniles, and other herbivorous dinosaurs, including Edmontosaurus and Triceratops. It ate the prey whole and swallowed it rather than chewing. The small arms might have been a hindrance while hunting however it was compensated by the sturdy jaws.

They are on the top of the food chain and the apex predators. Dinosaurs like spinosaurus weren't great but still would have had tough battles with t rex. The only serious threat it might have faced was starvation.

How aggressive were they?

Some tyrannosaur specimens have bite marks from other tyrannosaurs, which tells us they were extremely aggressive and fought between their own clan. Their serrated dagger-like teeth and sharp claws would have been used in fights that occurred due to food deficit or mates or over territories.

They are extremely aggressive creatures that were capable of ripping their prey apart without breaking a sweat. Using 3D construction scientists estimated that the bite force of an adult was around 60,000 N and juveniles could deliver a force of 1,200 N.

Did you know...

The first partial T rex skull was discovered by Barnum Brown in Hell Creek Formation, Montana 1902.

Around 60 t rex skeletons have been discovered so far.

Tyrannosaurs might have been closely related to the dromaeosaurs.

Obviously, animals don't brush or floss so a group of scientists believes that the T rex had infected teeth which helped it kill the prey easier.

For a very long time, there was minimal evidence on the fact that t rex hunted other dinosaurs. It is still a topic of debate among scientists, as many claim that they only fed on the carcasses of animals.

Their teeth could crunch through a bone very easily.

The most complete fossil was named after Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist who discovered it.

The arms of these dinosaurs barely reached their mouth.

Tyrannosaurs are much related to birds than they are to animals.

Mary from the North California State University reported the recovery of soft tissues of t .rex

Why are they called Tyrannosaurus Rex?

T rex was named by Henry Fairfield Osborn, the president of the Museum of National History in New York, in 1905. It is a combination of the Greek words tyrannos and saurous meaning tyrant and lizard respectively.

The species name rex means king in Latin. The name Tyrannosaurus rex means king of the tyrant lizards. It is given this name as it is the largest among all other carnivorous dinosaurs the Earth has ever had.

What are three facts about Tyrannosaurus Rex?

T rex could fit as much as 500 lbs (286 kg) of food in its mouth per bite.

The number of growth rings on the bones of the specimens, which are similar to tree rings, tells the age of the T rex.

Christie's, an auction house in London, sold a T. rex specimen for $31.8 million. This is the highest amount paid for a fossil in the whole world.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Qianzhousaurus facts and Guanlong facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable tyrannosaurus rex coloring pages.