Tyrannosaurus comes from the Greek words meaning ‘tyrant lizard’, while the word ‘rex’ means ‘king’ in Latin. Tyrannosaurus rex is often abbreviated to T-Rex.
Tyrannosaurus rex lived in an area of the Earth that now makes up western North America. Tyrannosaurus rex lived in the late Cretaceous Period, around 66 million years ago.
Tyrannosaurus rex walked on two legs, balancing its huge head with a long and heavy tail that sometimes contained over 40 vertebrae. Tyrannosaurus rex had small arms that were extremely powerful and featured two clawed fingers.
Tyrannosaurus rex measured up to 13m (42ft) in length, 4m (13ft) at the hip and could weigh up to 7 tons. The skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex alone measured up to 1.5m (5ft) long. The largest tooth of any carnivorous dinosaur found to this date is that of a T-Rex. It is estimated to have been around 30cm (12in) long when including the root.
Along with Stegosaurus and Iguanodon, Tyrannosaurus rex was one of three dinosaurs that inspired the appearance of Godzilla. Tyrannosaurus rex was represented in the popular Transformers toy line and animated series as Grimlock, an Autobot that could transform into a powerful Tyrannosaurus rex.
Interpret the scientific terminology: What does "vertebrae" refer to in the context of Tyrannosaurus rex?