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Facts about Tyrannosaurus

Fossil studies have long suggested modern birds were descended from T. rex, based in similarities in their skeletons. Now, bits of protein obtained from connective tissues in a T. rex fossil shows a relationship to birds including chickens and ostriches, according to a report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

T. rex went extinct during the K-T mass extinction, about 65 million years ago. This extinction killed the remaining dinosaurs (not just T. rex) and many other animal and plant groups. This extinction was probably caused by a catastrophic asteroid colliding with Earth.

From this, and the fossil evidence, we see that - like crocodiles and unlike birds - T. rex laid its eggs all at one time. And, like birds and unlike crocodiles, it did not cover its nest with sand or vegetation.

The name Tyrannosaurus rex means "king of the tyrant lizards": "tyranno" means tyrant in Greek; "saurus" means lizard in Greek, and "rex" means "king" in Latin. In 1905, Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History at the time, named Tyrannosaurus rex.Oct 17, 2017