Tyrannosaurus rex

Hello there! My name is Tyrannosaurus rex, but you can call me T. rex. It means 'Tyrant Lizard King,' and it’s a name I worked hard to earn! My story begins approximately 68 to 66 million years ago, when I lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. I lived in a warm, green world that you now call North America. The air was always thick with the smell of damp earth and giant ferns, which grew everywhere. The sounds I heard were the constant buzzing of insects and the distant calls of other dinosaurs. When I first hatched, I was small, but I knew, deep in my bones, that I was destined for greatness. I had to grow up fast to survive in such a wild and magnificent place.

Growing up in the Late Cretaceous Period was a true adventure, full of challenges and opportunities to become stronger. I went through a massive growth spurt during my teenage years, and it felt like I was getting bigger every single day. Soon, I towered over many of the other creatures in my habitat. My head was enormous, growing to be over four feet long, and my mouth was filled with teeth as big as bananas! My large, powerful hind legs supported my massive body, giving me the strength to chase down my dinner across the plains and through the forests. You have probably heard about my arms—and yes, they were small compared to the rest of my body, but they were mighty and strong! However, my best tools for survival were my incredible senses. I had eyes that faced forward, just like yours. This gave me amazing depth perception, which helped me judge distances perfectly when I was hunting. My sense of smell was one of the best in the entire animal kingdom. I could smell a tasty meal from miles away, which always helped me find what I needed to survive.

As the apex predator, I had an important job. It was my duty to keep the ecosystem in balance by hunting the large plant-eating dinosaurs. My main prey were animals like Triceratops, with its three sharp horns, and the duck-billed Edmontosaurus. A hunt was serious business that required both strategy and power. First, I would use my massive size to intimidate my prey, which sometimes was enough to cause confusion and panic. Then, I would use my powerful jaw to deliver a bone-crushing bite. But I was also a practical hunter. A king can’t be a picky eater, after all! If I came across a meal that another predator had already taken down, I wasn’t too proud to scare them off and claim the food for myself. This was a smart way to get food without using a lot of energy. Every meal, whether I hunted it or found it, helped me grow stronger and maintain my rule over my territory.

I lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, a magnificent time that came to an end around 66 million years ago. My kind, along with many other dinosaurs, disappeared from the Earth, but our story wasn't over. Millions of years later, humans began to find our fossilized bones buried deep in the ground. In 1902, a fossil hunter named Barnum Brown discovered the first good skeleton of one of my relatives, which was a very exciting moment for science. Then, in 1905, a scientist named Henry Fairfield Osborn officially gave my species its famous name: Tyrannosaurus rex. Today, my bones stand in museums all around the world, reminding everyone of the incredible age of dinosaurs. I may be gone, but as the Tyrant Lizard King, my legacy will live on forever, teaching you about the amazing history of your planet.