Tarbosaurus

MAIN INFORMATION: Tarbosaurus (/ˌtɑːrbəˈsɔːrəs/ TAR-bə-SOR-əs; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of large tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 70 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). It contains the single type species: Tarbosaurus bataar, which is known from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, with more fragmentary remains found further afield in the Subashi Formation of China.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: Tarbosaurus, just like many other Tyrannosaurs, would have a scaly base of a regular Theropod and Tyrannosaur, being bipedal, having relatively small non-opposable but claw-nailed fingers, crested eyebrows, and having a narrow snout and a slightly round bald forehead. However, Tarbosaurus had feathers just like a few relatives like Tyrannosaurus Rex, but those feathers of Tarbosaurus were thin like velvet hairs, and only measured a few centimeters tall, but was haired in many parts of the Tarbosaurus body - but not grown on its feet.

APPEARANCE: Tarbosaurus skin would be colored mainly pale red, but on its body it had medium-sized spots of light brown on the sides like cougars, and light brown on the lower skin of its jaws, the tail and the belly. And the Tarbosaurus' small, velvet-like feathers would be colored white.

PALEONTOLOGY: Like most known tyrannosaurids, Tarbosaurus was a large bipedal predator, with the type specimen measuring approximately 10 metres (33 ft) long, 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall at the hips, and weighing up to 4.5–5 metric tons (5.0–5.5 short tons). It had a unique locking mechanism in its jaw, equipped with about sixty large teeth, and the smallest arms relative to body size of all tyrannosaurids, renowned for their disproportionately tiny, two-fingered hands.

Tyrannosaurids varied little in overall body form and Tarbosaurus was no exception. The head was supported by an S-shaped neck, while the rest of the vertebral column, including the tail, was held horizontally. Tarbosaurus had tiny arms, proportionably to body size the smallest of all members in the family. The hands had two clawed digits each, with an additional unclawed third metacarpal found in some specimens, similar to those of closely related genera. Holtz has suggested that Tarbosaurus also has a theropod reduction of fingers IV-I "developed further" than in other tyrannosaurids,[49] as the second metacarpal in the Tarbosaurus specimens he studied is less than twice the length of the first metacarpal. Other tyrannosaurids have a second metacarpal about twice the length of the first metacarpal. Also, the third metacarpal in Tarbosaurus is proportionally shorter than in other tyrannosaurids. In other tyrannosaurids, like Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus, the third metacarpal is often longer than the first metacarpal, while in the Tarbosaurus specimens studied by Holtz, the third metacarpal is shorter than the first.[11] In contrast to the arms, the three-toed legs were long, thick, and muscular to support the body in a bipedal posture. The long, heavy tail served as a counterweight to the head and torso, while also placing the center of gravity directly over the hips.[4]

Tarbosaurus is classified as a theropod in the subfamily Tyrannosaurinae of the family Tyrannosauridae. Other members include Tyrannosaurus and the earlier Daspletosaurus, both from North America,[14] and possibly the Mongolian genus Alioramus.[2][12] Animals in this subfamily are more closely related to Tyrannosaurus than to Albertosaurus and are known for their robust build with proportionally larger skulls and longer femurs than in the other subfamily, Albertosaurinae.

Tarbosaurus is found chiefly in the Nemegt Formation, whose sediments preserve large river channels and soil deposits that indicate a far more humid climate than those suggested by the underlying Barun Goyot and Djadochta Formations. However, caliche deposits indicate at least periodic droughts. Sediment was deposited in the channels and floodplains of large rivers. The rock facies of this formation suggest the presence of mudflats and shallow lakes. Sediments also indicate that there existed a rich habitat, offering diverse food in abundant amounts that could sustain massive Cretaceous dinosaurs.

SETTINGS: Nemegt Formation, (Gobi Desert) Mongolia.

SIZE: Tarbosaurus measures over 10 meters long on average, and 3.5 meters tall in height, weighing over 5050 pounds, making Tarbosaurus one of the largest predatory dinosaurs of Cretaceous, just behind Tyrannosaurus Rex.