Once thought to be "King of the Dinosaurs", Tyrannosaurus Rex indeed looks to be a ferocious creature. His tremendous stature (40 foot length) coupled with 6 inch teeth, a huge skull and a fighting weight of 7 1/2 tons must have made him a formidable beast to behold.
Yet there is much debate in scientific circles today over whether Tyrannosaurus was the ferocious killer of reputation. His name means "tyrant lizard", but he may have been more of a scavanger. This assumption is based on fossil evidence that suggests that he had fairly small eyes and very large olfactory lobes. Which argues that he did not have the keen eye of a predator, but a strong sense of smell that would allow him to more easily find carrion. Some analysts say his back legs were built to travel long distances, but not to carry him much faster than 10 miles per hour. Slower speeds would make it more difficult for this "King" to pursue prey. Also the relatively small arms would have made it more difficult to grapple with a tough opponent. But Tyrannosaurus as predator still has his adherents who point out that the huge creature's terrifying teeth and jaws coupled with his bulk and arguable agility (based on an inspection of his ankle structure) could make him an effective killing machine.
Tyrannosaurus had a long, massy tail that was made up of about 40 vertebrae. The first reconstruction of a skelleton was done in 1915 and at the time it was thought that the dinosaur walked nearly upright. But more recent analysis has shown that Tyrannosaurus walked with his body almost horizontal, as his tail weighed about as much as the portion of his body forward of his legs. Like a scale, he was perfectly balanced at the hips. He lived during the Cretaceous Period of the Mezozoic Era.
