Scientific name
Tyrannosaurus = "tyrant lizard"
rex = "king"

Classification
Dinosauria: Saurischia: Theropoda: Tyrannosauridae

Age
Late Cretaceous, 65-70 million years ago

Geological Formation and Locality
Hell Creek Formation; Hell Creek, Garfield Co., Montana

Length
Up to 50 feet (15.2 meters)

Collector
Barnum Brown (American Museum of Natural History), 1902-1903

Collection Number
CM 9380

Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest predators ever to have walked the Earth. The skull of Tyrannosaurus rex was up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and equipped with 6-inch (15 cm) teeth. It could deliver a powerful, crushing bite.

T. rex had massive hind legs and large, three-toed feet. The arms were small but strong, and each hand had only two functional digits. The heavy tail counterbalanced the great body weight over the hips.

Carnegie Museum's specimen is especially important because it was the specimen on which the original description of the species was based in 1905. It is thus distinguished by the designation "holotype," which means it is the specimen to which all other members of its species are compared.

Links to more T. rex info:
1. Barnum Brown discovers T. rex
Decades before Hollywood dreamed up Indiana Jones, Barnum Brown personified scientific adventure. Considered the greatest dinosaur hunter of the early twentieth century, he had a sixth sense for finding fossils – it was said that he could smell them!

2. New York's Loss, Pittsburgh's Gain
While Tyrannosaurus rex is the dominant player in the Dinosaur Hall lineup, it wasn’t an original member of the team. It was actually acquired from New York’s American Museum of Natural History.

3. The Journey to Pittsburgh
Follow T. rex's voyage from American Museum of Natural History in New York City to its new home at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.