Tyrannosauridae
From Freepedia
| Tyrannosaurids Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||
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| Image:TRex9.JPG T. Rex skull, picture taken at Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago | ||||||||||||
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Dilong |
Tyrannosaurids, tyrant lizards or members of the Tyrannosauridae are a carnivorous dinosaur family whose name is derived from the Greek words tyrannos, meaning tyrant; and sauros, meaning lizard.
Tyrannosaurids were originally classified as "carnosaurs," along most of the rest of the large theropods. Recent phylogenetic studies, though, have determined that tyrannosaurids are coelurosaurs, a group which also includes the ornithomimids and the maniraptorans. Thus, they are more closely related to dromaeosaurids than to other large predatory dinosaur groups like the allosaurs.
Tyrannosaurs are characterized by broad, massive skulls, short, powerful necks, and reduced arms with only two digits.
- Weight: 2 to 7 US tons (1.8 to 6.4 tonnes)
- Length: 26 to 46 feet (8 to 14 metres)
- Location: Alberta in Canada, Mongolia, and Montana in the United States (area dependent on species)
- Period: Late Cretaceous
The Tyrannosaurids contain several genera and species, of which Tyrannosaurus rex is undoubtedly the most well-known. See the entry under Tyrannosaurus for more details.
