Tyrannosaurus Rex was not the largest meat-eating dinosaur, but it was one of the most ferocious, and certainly the most famous. Its brain was twice the size of other giant meat eaters like Giganotosaurus, and it was faster and had better vision. Though its arms were tiny and nearly useless, its jaws were strong enough to crush any animal. Its powerful jaws had 60 teeth, each one up to 8 inches long and its bite was around 3 times as powerful than that of a lion.
T. Rex was named more than one hundred years ago, but the most complete T. Rex, "Sue," was discovered in South Dakota in 1990 by amateur paleontologist Susan Hendrickson and named in her honor.
Sue is remarkably well-preserved, with more than 80% of its fossilized skeleton intact. Paleontologists say the specimen is so complete because it was covered by water and mud quickly after its death. This prevented scavengers from carrying away the bones, and wind and water from eroding them.
National Geographic Photography
