What type of animal is a Tyrannosaurus Rex?

A Tyrannosaurus Rex is a dinosaur. Tyrannosaurus rex, often shortened to T. rex, was a giant meat-eating dinosaur that lived in western North America near the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68 to 66 million years ago.

T. rex belonged to the theropod group, a branch of mostly two-legged dinosaurs that also included Allosaurus and Velociraptor. Its powerful jaws, large teeth, strong hind legs and relatively small arms made it one of the best-known predators in prehistoric life.

A common mix-up is calling T. rex a mammal or an ordinary reptile. Dinosaurs are part of the reptile family tree, but “dinosaur” is the specific and expected answer here. Modern birds are also living dinosaurs, descended from small feathered theropods, but T. rex itself was a non-avian dinosaur that could not fly.

The name Tyrannosaurus means “tyrant lizard,” while rex means “king” in Latin. The species was named in 1905 by paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.