Tyrannosaurus rex: The Cretaceous meat-eater with a huge skull

Tyrannosaurus rex is probably the best-known star in the museum. It lived during the Late Cretaceous and was among the largest meat-eating dinosaurs on land at the time. Our exhibit shows its body in a gentle way — it does not stage a hunt, but lets a child quietly study the structure of the animal.

Its body

The most striking feature is its enormous skull, housing powerful jaws and thick teeth with serrated edges well suited to slicing food. Strong hind legs carried its heavy body across the ground. By contrast, the arms were short and each ended in just two fingers — and scientists still debate what those small arms were for: perhaps grasping prey, helping the animal rise, or displaying to a mate.

It may have carried simple feathers or an especially fuzzy coat as a hatchling, and even as an adult possibly had sparse feathering on thick skin — a detail still debated in the fossils.

Where it lived and what it ate

Tyrannosaurus rex was a meat-eater that fed on large plant-eating dinosaurs. It probably hunted by ambush or pursuit, and like many big predators today it may also have scavenged. It had a very sharp sense of smell, and its teeth could even crush bone.

Where its fossils were found

Its fossils come mainly from western North America, in rocks of the United States and Canada. Because so many specimens have been found, scientists know its skeleton and body plan quite well.

What the fossils tell us — and what they do not

Fossils preserve the skeleton, size and tooth shape, but the colour, the call, how much of the body was feathered, and exactly what the small arms did are still being researched. So the colours and motions here are evidence-informed reconstructions, not a full set of answers from the fossils.

A note for grown-ups

Children sometimes picture T. rex as a monster that is always chasing. You could try a different angle instead: its head is huge and its legs are powerful, so why are its arms so short? Encouraging a child to notice the "unusual" parts is often the start of asking better questions.