Question 2 of 21

In what year did amateur fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson find the preserved bones of a T. rex?

... Hendrickson found the fossil of a T. rex in 1990, at the South Dakota Badlands. The dinosaur appeared to have died from head wounds sustained in a fight with another T. rex.

Question 3 of 21

What percentage of the fossil's bones were accounted for?

... The fossil, nicknamed Sue, had 90 percent of its bones accounted for.

Question 4 of 21

Where is Sue on display?

... In 1997, Sue was sold to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where she has been on display since 2000.

Question 5 of 21

What is a paleontologist?

... A paleontologist is a scientist who specializes in the study of prehistoric animal life.

Question 6 of 21

What does Tyrannosaurus rex mean?

... Tyrannosaurus rex means tyrant lizard king. This name was given by paleontologist Henry Osborn in the early 1900s.

Question 7 of 21

When was the first T. rex fossil found?

... The first fossil was found in 1902 in Dawson County, Montana, by paleontologist Barnum Brown of the Museum of American of Natural History in New York City.

Question 8 of 21

How old did paleontologist Henry Osborn estimate dinosaur fossils to be?

... Osborn estimated dinosaur fossils to be three to four million years old. He was off by more than 60 million years.

Question 9 of 21

What was the era when dinosaurs lived called?

... The era of the dinosaurs is called the Mesozoic era. It is made up of three periods: the Triassic period, the Jurassic period and the Cretaceous period.

Question 10 of 21

What was the largest dinosaur that ever lived?

... The largest dinosaur to have ever lived was the plant eating Brachiosaurus. It lived during the Jurassic period.

Question 11 of 21

During what period did the Tyrannosaurus live?

... The Tyrannosaurus lived during the Cretaceous period, some 145 million to 65 million years ago. It was the largest member of the meat eating family of tyrannosaurids.

Question 12 of 21

In which side of the American continent did the T. rex live?

... During the Cretaceous period, when the T. rex walked the earth, the American continent was divided in two by a long seaway. The T. rex lived on the western side of this seaway.

Question 13 of 21

By 2000, how many tyrannosaurs had been uncovered?

... By 2000, 40 tyrannosaurus specimens had been uncovered. Twenty of them were mostly intact and the largest of them was longer than 40 feet (12 meters).

Question 14 of 21

What did the T. rex's teeth look like?

... The T. rex's teeth were large and pointy, with serrated edges, like the edge of a bread knife.

Question 15 of 21

How long were the T. rex's teeth?

... The T. rex's teeth were more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) long. Half the length consisted of the roots, giving the teeth increased strength.

Question 16 of 21

How did the T. rex walk?

... The T. rex walked parallel to the ground, with its tail in the air to counterbalance the weight of its head. Before the 1970s, scientists thought it walked upright, with its tail on the ground.

Question 17 of 21

What do scientists say about the T. rex's agility?

... The size of the markings where the T. rex's muscles attached to its bones indicate that it had very strong muscles -- muscles of an agile beast, not a sluggish, plodding one.

Question 18 of 21

What type of animal do scientist believe dinosaurs were?

... Based on their conclusion that dinosaurs were active, scientists think that dinosaurs were actually warm blooded creatures, as warm blooded animals are more active than cold blooded animals.

Question 19 of 21

How fast do scientists believe theropods can move?

... Scientists believe that theropods, dinosaurs that walked on their hind legs, could move at about 25 miles per hour.

Question 20 of 21

How much weight do scientists estimate that a T. rex's arms could bear?

... Scientists estimate that a T. rex's arms could bear up to 400 pounds of weight. They use this to refute claims that the T. rex must have been a scavenger, because its arms were too small to help it catch prey -- they may not have been long enough, but they were definitely strong enough.

Question 21 of 21

What did paleontologist Gary Erickson estimate that the T. rex's biting strength was?

... Erickson's team found that the deadly strength of a T. rex bite could have employed as much as 3,015 pounds of force.