Tyrannosaurus rex

(tye-RAN-uh-sawr-us rex)

Tyranno = tyrant
Saurus = lizard
Rex = king

Size: 17 feet tall, 50 feet long
Weight: About 7 tons
Range: Western North America and China
Habitat: Open forests and coastal forested swamps
Diet: Meat/animal tissue
Time period: Late Cretaceous

Movies often show T. rex as the biggest, baddest dude around, and that's understandable. But based on his small arms, theories suggest T. rex was more of a scavenger than a real predator. His massive jaws could simply snap up other dinosaurs' roadkill, without having to do the dirty work.

T. rex had similarities to a modern Grizzly Bear, which - although it can be ferocious - often prefers to help itself to food lying around.

What a Bite!

Check out that smile! At eight inches long, a T. rex tooth is about the size of a banana - a very sharp, deadly banana. With those little arms, flossing would have been tricky.

Maybe a Kickboxer?

Obviously, T. rex had huge, powerful legs. The towering giant actually had to use his tail to balance himself... sort of a "tripodicus."

Heavyweight Champ No More

Experts used to believe T. rex was the largest carnivore among dinosaurs, but bigger species were recently found, like the descriptively named Gigantosaurus.