Genus · Tyrannosauridae · Cretaceous

Tyrannosaurus

Named by Osborn 1905

Tyrannosaurus lived 72.1–66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database lists 85 fossil records for it from 3 countries (United States, Canada and Mexico) — the 8th most of the 99 genera on this site.

Where it sits in time

Key facts from the records

Its records are spread over at least 10 formations; the largest share, 58%, is from the Hell Creek Formation.
It is one of the more widespread genera here: records from 3 countries, 26th of 99.
Triceratops appears in 29% of the collections that hold Tyrannosaurus; Thescelosaurus in 21%.
Its stage range spans about 6.1 million years (83rd longest of 99); it is the 4th best-recorded of the 32 theropods here.

2 accepted species

Species	Named by	Records
Tyrannosaurus rex	Osborn 1905	70
Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis	Dalman et al. 2024	1

Where it was found

85 records with coordinates.

Found alongside

Rock formations

States & provinces

Region	Records	Share
North Dakota	23	27%
Montana	19	22%
Wyoming	15	18%
South Dakota	11	13%
Colorado	7	8%
Alberta	4	5%
New Mexico	3	4%
Saskatchewan	2	2%

Country	Records	Share
United States	78	92%
Canada	6	7%
Mexico	1	1%

Records by stage

Well-dated records, by the stage of their mid-point age.

Campanian4
Maastrichtian80

Depositional settings

Channel17
Floodplain8
Crevasse splay7
Coarse channel fill4
Channel lag3
Fine channel fill2

Other theropods of its time

Same group, overlapping stage range, not found in the same collections.

Genus	Age	Country	Records
Tarbosaurus	72.1–66 Ma	Mongolia, China	56
Albertosaurus	83.6–66 Ma	Canada, United States	32
Gallimimus	72.1–66 Ma	Mongolia, Uzbekistan	30
Masiakasaurus	72.1–66 Ma	Madagascar	29
Chirostenotes	83.6–66 Ma	United States, Canada	28
Majungasaurus	72.1–66 Ma	Madagascar	25
Struthiomimus	83.6–66 Ma	Canada, United States	18
Stenonychosaurus	83.6–66 Ma	Canada, United States	14

Also from these formations