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Concept
Gorgosaurus
Summary
Gorgosaurus (ˌɡɔːrɡəˈsɔːrəs ; dreadful lizard) is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period (Campanian), between about 76.6 and 75.1 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found in the Canadian province of Alberta and the U.S. state of Montana. Paleontologists recognize only the type species, G. libratus, although other species have been erroneously referred to the genus.
Like most known tyrannosaurids, Gorgosaurus was a large bipedal predator, measuring in length and in body mass. Dozens of large, sharp teeth lined its jaws, while its two-fingered forelimbs were comparatively small. Gorgosaurus was most closely related to Albertosaurus, and more distantly related to the larger Tyrannosaurus. Gorgosaurus and Albertosaurus are extremely similar, distinguished mainly by subtle differences in the teeth and skull bones. Some experts consider G. libratus to be a species of Albertosaurus; this would make Gorgosaurus a junior synonym of that genus.
Gorgosaurus lived in a lush floodplain environment along the edge of an inland sea. It was an apex predator, preying upon abundant ceratopsids and hadrosaurs. In some areas, Gorgosaurus coexisted with another tyrannosaurid, Daspletosaurus torosus. Although these animals were roughly the same size, there is some evidence of niche differentiation between the two. Gorgosaurus is the best-represented tyrannosaurid in the fossil record, known from dozens of specimens. These plentiful remains have allowed scientists to investigate its ontogeny, life history and other aspects of its biology.
Gorgosaurus libratus was first described by Lawrence Lambe in 1914. Its name is derived from the Greek γοργος (gorgos – "fierce" or "terrible") and σαυρος (saurus – "lizard"). The type species is G. libratus; the specific epithet "balanced" is the past participle of the Latin verb librare, meaning "to balance".
The holotype of Gorgosaurus libratus (NMC 2120) is a nearly complete skeleton associated with a skull, discovered in 1913 by Charles M.
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