Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 12:4 (Fall 1999)
Article: Tyrannosaurus rex His Bark And His Bite Were Both Bad
Author: Anonymous

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Tyrannosaurus rex
His Bark And His Bite Were Both Bad

Considered the largest meat-eater to walk the earth, Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) lived in North America. Standing as high as 20 feet and up to 40 feet long, it could weigh 8 tons. Recent finds, though, may diminish T-rex’s status just a bit, because in 1997 an excavation in Montana found a few bones that may belong to a creature even larger than T-rex. Yet, for now, T-rex still lives up to its name as the “Tyrant Lizard King.”

In 1900, the first T-rex fossils were found in western Wyoming and originally named Dynemosaurus imperious (powerful/lizard imperial—the Imperial Powerful Lizard). The fossils are located today in the British Museum of Natural History in London. Henry Fairfield Osborn named it Tyrannosaurus rex in 1906. Of course, he wasn’t the first to name T-rex. Adam originally named all the animals (Genesis 2:20). However, we do not know Adam’s original name for the giant.

While T-rex may have become a meat-eater, it was originally vegetarian (Genesis 1:30) and was created with all the land animals on the sixth day (Genesis 1:24-56). A second fossil was found in Hell’s Creek, Montana, in 1902. About 50 percent complete, it is in the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Very little evidence of other T-rexes was found until the 1980’s. Then, a 90 percent complete T-rex was found in 1988 in McCone County, Montana. While still going through preparation at the Museum in Bozeman, Montana, red blood cells in this new T-rex were found in a partially unfossilized femur. This is powerful evidence that these fossils are not 60 million years old, but no more than a few thousand years old.

The 11th T-rex was found in 1990 in South Dakota and named “Sue” after its discoverer. It is also nearly 90 percent complete and the largest T-Rex ever found. Its 5-foot-long skull contains about 50 teeth, each 6 to 8 inches long with serrated edges. Apparently, new teeth were constantly growing to replace old worn-out ones. A 1998 study of the biting force of T-rex’s mouth suggested his bite was the most powerful of all time.

T-rex’s large head on a short neck was balanced by a long and powerful tail which probably served also as a weapon. T-rex had two short, two finger-and-claw, arms that reached neither its mouth or the ground. The two hind legs were huge and exceptionally strong, with broad feet with three forward toes and a spur-like rear toe. It is unclear how fast a T-rex could run. Some suggest a speed of up to 30 miles per hour (as fast as a galloping horse). T-rex was the scourge of its era—and probably of all time.

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