Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurus rex
Name meaning	Tyrant Lizard
Biology
Height	N/A
Length	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Wingspan	N/A

Tyrannosaurus, also known simply as T. rex, was a large carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived from 68 to 66 million years ago. Tyrannosaurus is the most well known and most iconic prehistoric animal that has ever lived. It will be one of the playable dinosaurs in Saurian.

Information

Tyrannosaurus rex measures around 12 meters (40 feet) long, with particularly large specimens approaching 13 meters (43 feet), stands approximately 3.7 meters (13 feet) tall at the hips, and weighed at least 7-8 tons. It was the largest terrestrial carnivore ever discovered in North America.

T. rex were both hunters and scavengers like many modern predators, hunting hadrosaurs (such as Anatosaurus), ceratopsians (such as Triceratops) and even the occasional ankylosaur (such as Denversaurus and Ankylosaurus). T. rex had one of the most powerful bite forces of any terrestrial animal ever to live, with a bite force surpassing many modern animals. Scientists presume that the bite force of T. rex was 12,000 to 12,800 pounds (53,378 to 56,937 newtons) per square inch. Philip J. Currie of the University of Alberta has suggested that Tyrannosaurus may have been a pack animal. A study from Currie, Horner, Erickson and Longrich in 2010 has been put forward as evidence of cannibalism in the genus Tyrannosaurus. They studied some Tyrannosaurus specimens with tooth marks in the bones, attributable to the same genus.

There is debate on weither T. rex had plumage or not. Its cousins Dilong and Yutyrannus had been discovered with feathers, and may have been present in other tyrannosauroids as well. To most paleontologists, it seems very likely that Tyrannosaurus had at least some feathers.

Physical appearance

The Tyrannosaurus has a mix of feathers, scales, and bare skin. Initially, the T. rex spends most of its life as a slender theropod, but when it matures into an adult it gains more bulk, as shown in the animals growth curve. T. rex's colors range from brown, white, and gray to match with its habitat, with its feathers growing progressively darker as it ages from hatchling to adult.

Behavior and Biology

Concept art of the life cycle of Tyrannosaurus.

Tyrannosaurus is the apex predator of the Hell Creek. A hyper-carnivore, it will eat most animals as an adult, but prefers the slow moving Anatosaurus and Triceratops as prey, targeting young and weak individuals as most smaller prey are too fast and nimble. Adult Tyrannosaurus will occupy large territories to sustain their requirements for food, defending their territories diligently. When two adults meet outside of breeding season, the results are usually violence with face biting being common in these conflicts.

Infographic

During breeding season, males and females locate each other and emit low-frequency sounds during courtship. After mating, the female T. rex leaves the male, leaving the him to watch after the eggs and young. Tyrannosaurus displays strong parental care by watching over broods for years until their young reaches a moderate size. When this occurs, the father finally departs, but the juveniles stay together in a sibling pack, hunting prey together until they reach adulthood. Unlike the adults, younger T. rex are extraordinarily fast. Young Tyrannosaurus use this trait to their advantage in hunting prey such as the Hell Creek Ornithomimid and Anzu.

At some point in its life, or possibly all its life, Tyrannosaurus will exhibit cannibalism.

Behind the scenes

Original Tyrannosaurus design by Alex "Doc" Lewko from 2013.

All members of Saurian's concept artists were involved in designed the Tyrannosaurus.

Based on the specimen FMNH PR 2081 "Sue" (particularly a now inaccurate skeletal by Scott Hartman) and designed by Alex "Doc" Lewko, the pre-2015 design of the Tyrannosaurus was different than the current design. It had black feathers spanning from the top of its head down to the tip of its tail. The feathers on the top of the head and under the throat were not as thick as the rest of the body. The head markings on the original concept were orange with a white horizontal stripe starting mid-head through the neck being split by the theropod's eye. Another version also by Lewko featuring the face being dark blue with red wattle and lighter orange marking mixed with pink markings. The white stripe that ran mid-head down to the neck was also absent. The latter design was made into a model, being originally utilized for the video game Project Crynosaurs, which the Saurian developers were originally apart of until they split and created Saurian. Upon the split, the Tyrannosaurus model saw usage in early stages of the game's development.

Original Tyrannosaurus model.

In 2015, the T. rex received a redesign. This redesign was spurred by a variety of factors. One of these factors was that RJ "Arvalis" Palmer had been frequently requesting the development team for a redesign due to a number of issues the then current design had. Jake Baardse's improved skills and more knowledge of the anatomy of Tyrannosaurus also played a role in redesigning the game's T. rex, but it was the conversion from the CryEngine to the Unity game engine that played a prominent role in the dinosaur's new look. The original model created for the CryEngine from 2013 was old and despite it working in Unity, the steps taken to make it work in CryEngine limited the team's animator Bryan Phillps ability to set up ragdolls as well as other basic functions. Furthermore, new techniques that Phillps had an interest in implementing were stymied by the old model. The CryEngine model also caused problems for the team when they were updating and correcting discrepancies per newfound information.

Unused design of the Tyrannosaurus by RJ "Arvalis" Palmer.

All of the concept artists for the game were involved in the redesign. RJ Palmer created many potential designs for the new T. rex. One design had a black coat of feathers covering the upper torso with small, stringy plumage on the back of its neck and at the tip of the tail. Its head was completely void of feathers.

Redesigned Tyrannosaurus rex concept art by RJ Palmer.

The redesign featured feathers spanning from the top of the head, covering the majority of the torso, to the top of the base of the tail. The feathers themselves were brown and tan with a new non-frayed design, presumably from the game's researcher Tom Parker's research into dinosaur integument. The feet were redesigned based on fossil tyrannosaur track-ways discovered in Canada in 2014. The specimen "Stan" was chosen in place of "Sue" to design the new T. rex. In the blog post unveiling the game's new look for the Tyrannosaurus, Nick Turinetti explained that this was because of Stan's smaller size, but it was more primarily due to the fact that Stan lived closer to Saurian's setting than Sue which would allow for more accuracy. The new design would further receive changes when its model was made, particularly a more elongated skull and a thinner lower jaw.

The "new design" of Tyrannosaurus by RJ Palmer as an April Fool's joke.

In addition, the specimens MOR 6625 "Chomper" and BMRP 2002.4.1 "Jane" served as references for the juvenile and sub-adult Tyrannosaurus respectively. The specimen "Jane" is debated among paleontologists on whether or not it is actually Tyrannosaurus or Nanotyrannus.

For April Fool's 2015, RJ Palmer created a "new design" for the T. rex that was purposely inaccurate, being featherless and standing on its tail among other inaccuracies.

Gallery

Tyrannosaurus with kill

Tyrannosaurus running GIF

Scrapped Tyrannosaurus with kill

For a more complete gallery, visit Tyrannosaurus/Gallery