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The Big Dinosaur Podcast

The Big Dinosaur Podcast

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5 Facts About Tarbosaurus Bataar

Tarbosaurus courtesy of Dmitry Bogdanov, via Wikimedia Commons

The Alarming Lizard

Tarbosaurus bataar, whose name means “Alarming Lizard,” was a tyrannosaur first discovered in 1946 and named by Evgeny Maleev in 1955.  Tarbosaurus lived in the Cretaceous, around 70 million years ago.  Tarbosaurus fossils have been found in Mongolia and China. Here are five quick facts about Tarbosaurus bataar:

  • Tarbosaurus Fact #1: Tarbosaurus had the smallest forearms of all tyrannosaurs. Tarbosaurus weighed up to 5 tons and was 33-39 feet long, so it’s small arms may have helped it maintain balance.
  • Tarbosaurus Fact #2: Tarbosaurus is older than T-rex, which suggests that tyrannosaurs originated in Asia and migrated to North America via a land bridge that connected the two continents.
  • Tarbosaurus Fact #3: Tarbosaurus was the apex predator of its habitat, and it may have hunted and/or scavenged. Dr. Philip Currie has hypothesized that Tarbosaurus may have hunted in packs. Six Tarbosaurus skeletons were found in a bonebed in Mongolia, which may mean they lived together.
  • Tarbosaurus Fact #4: Tarbosaurus‘ name “bataar” is a mispelling of the Mongolian word “baatar,” which means “hero.”
  • Tarbosaurus Fact #5: Tarbosaurus is very closely related to T-rex, but there are some key differences. Tarbosaurus had a longer skull and had about 60 teeth (which is more teeth than T-rex.  And though Tarbosaurus was big, it had a lightweight skeleton. Still, Tarbosaurus is the second biggest tyrannosaur, after T-rex.

Resources:

Learn more about Tarbosaurus in episode 4 of our podcast.

5 Facts About Oryctodromeus

Oryctodromeus cubicularis in its burrow, by Michael B. H., courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Burrowing Runner

Oryctodromeus, whose name means “Burrowing Runner,” was first discovered by Dr. Anthony J. Martin and his colleagues in 2007. Oryctodromeus lived during the Middle Cretaceous, about 95 million years ago, in southwestern Montana and southwestern Idaho. Here are five quick facts about Oryctodromeus:

  • Oryctodromeus Fact #1: Oryctodromeus did not have long arms and legs, like modern burrowing animals. Instead it had more specialized adaptations, such as a flexible tail it could curl up underground. This makes it similar to rabbits, aardvarks, and hyenas.
  • Oryctodromeus Fact #2: Oryctodromeus was the first known burrowing dinosaur, and Dr. Martin and his colleagues found an adult and two juveniles in a fossilized chamber, in 2007.Oryctodromeus made its home its exact width, at 11.8 inches, probably to keep larger animals from coming inside the burrow.
  • Oryctodromeus Fact #3:  The fossils Dr. Martin and his team found had died and decayed in the burrow. Having juveniles with the adults suggests Oryctodromeus provided parental care for an extended period of time.
  • Oryctodromeus Fact #4: Oryctodromeus may have lived in burrows to survive in harsh weather conditions, such as cold temperatures. Their discovery has led some scientists to look at how dinosaurs in polar conditions may have survived.
  • Oryctodromeus Fact #5: Oryctodromeus was small, but quick. It was only 6.8 feet long, and weighed 70 pounds

Resources:

Learn more about Oryctodromeus in episode 2 of our podcast.

5 Facts About Tyrannosaurus Rex

T. rex skeleton photo by Dylan Kereluk, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Tyrant Lizard

Tyrannosaurus rex, whose name means “Tyrant Lizard,” was first discovered by Barnum Brown in 1902. T. rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, in western North America, at the time an island continent called Laramidia. Here are five quick facts about T. rex:

  • T. rex Fact #1: T. rex was one of the largest known land predators. It grew up to 40 feet in length, 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighed 6.8 metric tons. T. rex probably had feathers, at least on parts of its body. T. rex also had enhanced eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell (comparable to modern vultures), and could track prey movements from long distances.
  • T. rex Fact #2: Scientists used to think T. rex walked upright and dragged its tail (like a “living tripod”) but now they think the tail as off the ground, as seen in Jurassic Park. Henry Fairfield Osborn, the former president of the American Museum of Natural History, was convinced T. rex stood upright and unveiled the first complete T. rex skeleton this way in 1915. It stood in this upright pose for 77 years, until 1992.
  • T. rex Fact #3: T. rex was probably a predator and a scavenger, and was estimated to have one of the largest bite forces among all terrestrial animals. It had large, serrated teeth, and could probably eat 500 pounds in one bite. Because meat got stuck in T. rex‘s teeth, bacteria gave it a  septic bite,” meaning one bite could have infected prey, causing it to die weeks later if it successfully escaped a T. rex attack.
  • T. rex Fact #4: Female T. rex was bigger than male T. rex. They may have been as much as a few thousand pounds bigger.
  • T. rex Fact #5: T. rex may have had pack behavior. This means they may have hunted together. According to Pete Larson, there have been four instances where more than one T. rex has been reported found together.

Resources:

Learn more about Tyrannosaurus in episode 200 of our podcast.

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