Gorgosaurus Fossils
Gorgosaurus Fossils
Gorgosaurus, meaning (fierce lizard), is a genus of theropod and carnivore dinosaurs that measure up to 8 to 9 meters (26 to 30 ft) in length and weigh 2.8 to 3.4 tons.
It lived 75 to 76 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period. It was first described by a paleontologist named Lawrence Morris Lambe in 1914 in western Canada and the United States.
The Gorgosaurus is a tyrannosaurid that is similar in size to many other tyrannosaurs like Albertosaurus and Despletosaurus but is smaller in size in comparison to a Tyrannosaurus and Tarbosaurus.
Gorgosaurus has a bright blue with yellow color from under his chin to its belly and tail, with very bright black stripes. Some, on the other hand have a much darker colour of blue or green.
Just like Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus too had large, muscular legs, and had quite a speed for an animal this large in size. They used to live in the lush flood plain environments along the edge of the inland sea.
It was an apex predator, preying upon abundant ceratopsids and hadrosaurs. In some areas, Gorgosaurus coexisted with another tyrannosaurid, Daspletosaurus.
The Gorgosaurus was found in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta and is housed in the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa
Gorgosaurus shared its general body plan with all other tyrannosaurids of its genus. It had a massive head that was perched on the end of an S-shaped neck. In contrast to its large head, it had small forelimbs similar to a tyrannosaurus.