page_title: Tyrannosaurus
section_title: Cultural significance
hierarchical_section_title: Tyrannosaurus / Cultural significance
caption_attribution_description: Reconstructions of Tyrannosaurus rex (Field Museum FMNH PR 2081) in lateral view (A) and dorsal view (B). The lateral view (A) is modified with the dorsal margin of the neck conservatively raised based on recent muscle reconstructions (Snively &amp; Russell, 2007a, 2007b).
context_page_description: Tyrannosaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. The species Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the most well-represented of the large theropods. Tyrannosaurus lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the Maastrichtian age of the upper Cretaceous period, 68 to 66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids, and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
  Like other tyrannosaurids, Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to its large and powerful hind limbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were short but unusually powerful for their size and had two clawed digits. The most complete specimen measures up to 12.3 meters in length though T. rex could grow to lengths of over 12.3 m, up to 3.66 m tall at the hips, and according to most modern estimates 8.4 metric tons to 14 metric tons in weight.
context_section_description: Since it was first described in 1905, T. rex has become the most widely recognized dinosaur species in popular culture. It is the only dinosaur that is commonly known to the general public by its full scientific name (binomial name) and the scientific abbreviation T. rex has also come into wide usage. Robert T. Bakker notes this in The Dinosaur Heresies and explains that, "a name like ‘T. rex’ is just irresistible to the tongue."
caption: Skeletal reconstruction of "Sue"
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