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Date
T. rex walked the earth 65 million years ago and lived for 16-18 years.
Found
Hell Creek, Montana, by researcher Kathy Wankel in 1988
Dimensions
Length 12m, height 6m
Weight
3,000 kilos (body weight)
Sex
Unknown, as it is difficult to determine sex of dinosaurs from skeletons
Museum reference
On display
Animal World, Level 1, National Museum of Scotland
Did you know?
MOR.555 is the second largest and most complete T.rex skeleton ever found.
It is 65 million years since T. rex actually walked the earth, but our T. rex brings people as close as possible to appreciate the scale and power of the real thing. The cast has been taken from one of the most complete T. rex specimens in the world, which is held in the Museum of the Rockies.
Above: Part of the T.rex cast skeleton being installed at National Museum of Scotland.
T. rex forms the centrepiece of the Animal World, a spectacular array of creatures from the past and the present day, including a great white shark, a hippo and a Triceratops skull, among many others. Peering out into the museum’s Grand Gallery, it draws people through into our six Natural World galleries, which tell the story of the formation of the earth and evolution of life on our planet.
Our T. rex is a cast of a specimen that was found in 1988 by rancher Kathy Wankel at Hell Creek, Montana. The specimen was excavated by a team from the Museum of the Rockies, led by palaeontologist Jack Horner, and given the number MOR 555. The skeleton is 85% complete, including the skull and the first complete T. rex forelimb.
Above: Excavation of the skeleton in 1990 © Museum of the Rockies
The T. rex is now on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. Find out more about the discovery of the T. rex in palaeontologist Jack Horner's blog post When T. rex rocked in Montana!
Above: T. rex on display in the Animal World gallery.
T. rex was one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs that ever lived. Fossil evidence shows that it was about 12 metres long with a six-metre tail. It had strong thighs, and together with its long powerful tail – which gave it balance – this helped it moved quickly. Its massive 1.5-metre long skull provided it with a powerful crushing bite.
T. rex's serrated conical teeth allowed it to pierce and grip flesh, and its strong neck muscles were then used to rip the flesh from the carcass of its prey. Its two-fingered forelimbs could possibly manipulate prey but were far too short to reach its mouth.
It is believed that this powerful predator could eat up to 230 kg of meat in one bite. Fossils of T. rex suggest that it crushed and broke bones as it ate and broken bones have been found in its dung. It lived in forested river valleys in North America during the Late Cretaceous period and became extinct about 65 million years ago.
