Tag: dinosaur

Why is T. Rex the best known of all the dinosaurs? Is it only in the western world that it’s the archetypal dinosaur—after all, the fossils have all been found in North America? Do folks from other cultures name a different beast if asked to say the first dinosaur that comes to mind?

T. rex lived in what is now western North America. It had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids and its fossils are found in a range of geological formations. It was undeniably huge—modern estimates put it at 13 m (43 ft) in length. While there were other theropods that might have been just as big or bigger than Tyrannosaurus, it’s still one of the largest land carnivores ever, with the strongest bite force of any land animal. As the biggest carnivore around, Tyrannosaurus rex was probably an apex predator, though some experts think it was mostly a scavenger.

T. rex has been one of the best-known dinosaurs for over a hundred years, featuring in film, advertising, postal stamps, and many other media. It is the only dinosaur that is commonly known to the general public by its full scientific name. King Terrible Lizard, clearly, you rule.

The three-horned, plant-eating Triceratops lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 to 66 million years ago, in what is now western North America. It, along with seventy-five percent of the plant and animal species on earth, was wiped out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event. This model now resides on the living room wall at S & C’s place.

Our friends S and C are science educators, and their home is full of fossils, skeletons, sealife photos, and giant mounted dinosaur heads. I believe this one in the kitchen is Parasaurolophus (I peeked at the Dinosaurs flash cards on S’s desk.) We’re going to be here for a few weeks, and I plan to sketch many more of the myriad cool specimens we’re living amongst.