Timeline of tyrannosaur researchThis timeline of tyrannosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the tyrannosaurs, a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs that began as small, long-armed bird-like creatures with elaborate cranial ornamentation but achieved apex predator status during the Late Cretaceous as their arms shrank and body size expanded. Although formally trained scientists did not begin to study tyrannosaur fossils until the , these remains may have been discovered by Native Americans and interpreted through a mythological lens.
GorgosaurusGorgosaurus (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.
DaspletosaurusDaspletosaurus (dæsˌpliːtəˈsɔːrəs ; meaning "frightful lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Laramidia between about 77 and 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period. The genus Daspletosaurus contains three species. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, and fossils of a later second species, D. wilsoni, and third species, D. horneri, have been found only in Montana. A possible fourth species, also from Alberta, awaits formal identification.
TarbosaurusTarbosaurus (ˌtɑːrbəˈsɔːrəs ; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia about 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age at the end of the Late Cretaceous period, considered to contain a single known species: Tarbosaurus bataar. Fossils have been recovered from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, with more fragmentary remains found further afield in the Subashi Formation of China. Although many species have been named, modern paleontologists recognize only one species, T.
TyrannosauridaeTyrannosauridae (or tyrannosaurids, meaning "tyrant lizards") is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that comprises two subfamilies containing up to thirteen genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three. All of these animals lived near the end of the Cretaceous Period and their fossils have been found only in North America and Asia.
TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning "king" in Latin), often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It 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.