Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurus InGen File

A female rex sleeping.

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Real-world Information

Arguably the most famous and most popular dinosaur of them all, Tyrannosaurus rex was a massive theropod that lived at the very end of the Late Cretaceous, around 67-66 million years ago, in what is now North America. Its Latin name means "tyrant lizard king". It grew about 12-13 metres in length, and an estimated 6 tons in weight.

Its skull measured around 1.5 metres (5 feet) in length. With a mouth full of teeth about the same size and shape as bananas, and a bite force of around 200000 newtons (about 20 tons), this carnivore was capable of crunching its way through bone as if it were cardboard. Its eyes faced forward, giving it binocular vision, and it also had one of the best senses of smell of any dinosaur.

"Boy do I hate being right all the time..."

Healed bite wounds from T. rex found on ceratopsian and hadrosaur bones suggest that it was indeed a predator, that attacked and killed large prey. However, its sense of smell meant it could also find and scavenge carrion.

Tyrannosaurus led a violent lifestyle. Many of their skulls are covered in bites left by other members of their own species.

Studies of growth patterns in the bones show that T. rex grew at a slow but steady pace until the age of about 14 years, but entered a massive growth spurt at that age, reaching adult size by about the age of 18.

More than 50 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex have been found, some of them with nearly complete skeletons.

It is currently unknown if T. rex had feathers or not. However, the discovery of feathers preserved on the distantly related Yutyrannus huali suggest that this is possible.

JP Information

Tyrannosaurus rex is a must-have for any ambitious park, but be careful, as this animal is not to be taken lightly! This dinosaur is large, strong, notoriously bad-tempered, and requires huge quantities of meat on a regular basis. These animals are fiercely territorial and mostly solitary, but have sometimes been known to stick together in mated pairs. These pairs are closely bonded, and will not usually separate unless there's not enough prey around to support both partners.

In order to house a T. rex, you will need a very large territory with a mix of forest and open country, surrounded by thick reinforced stone walls, high-security electric fencing, or immensely reinforced steel barriers. Habitat enrichment (specifically, live prey) is also essential, as these relatively intelligent dinosaurs get bored easily.

These dinosaurs WILL NOT tolerate other large carnivores in their territory, not even of a different species, and should therefore NEVER be kept in multi-species large dinosaur exhibits! That being said, they will happily tolerate very small scavengers like Compsognathus and Ichthyornis, as they are too small to be considered prey.

In-game Information

Tyrannosaurus rex! The most popular dinosaur in the world! A large and strong carnivore, it is an intimidating creature, with 80 HP of heath, and a strong bite that lets it deal 20 HP of damage! Tyrannosaurus will wander around the world, being almost solitary hunters. However, they will occasionally flock in groups of 2, since that's as much as they tolerate. Any third Tyrannosaurus that is unlucky enough to cross paths with the pair will be attacked and presumably killed. They will also occasionally let out a mighty roar, and may even roar with their head raised, presumably communicating with any nearby Tyrannosaurus in the area. When hungry, Tyrannosaurus can eat meat from feeders, or hunt just about anything they find. When thirsty, Tyrannosaurus can drink water from nearby sources or from the rain. If a male and a female Tyrannosaurus encounter and are left undisturbed by any third Tyrannosaur, they will breed every now and then, laying 2-4 eggs per clutch. Tyrannosaurus is not imprintable (see Taming), because of their short temper and usually aggressive lifestyle.