What's new

Print page

Email page

'Tarbosaurus bataar', 2009

View content

Full details

Credits:

Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria.

Creator:

Museum Victoria

TLF ID:

M002719

Source:

Museum Victoria

Description:

This is a video in which Museum Victoria's Brian Choo talks about what made 'Tarbosaurus bataar' a successful killer. The video was made as part of Museum Victoria's 'Dinosaur Walk' exhibition in 2009.

Educational value:

The 'Tarbosaurus bataar' was a giant carnivorous Theropod dinosaur that lived in Mongolia at the very end of the Cretaceous period, somewhere between 65 and 70 million years ago. He was a member of a very famous family of carnivorous dinosaurs called the Tyrannosaurids, which included 'Tyrannosaurus rex', that lived in North America at about the same time.
Tarbosaurus had a disproportionately big head, a very thick bulldog-shaped neck, pathetically short front arms with only two functional digits and walked on powerful back legs with three big toes and a little toe that was always held off the ground.
Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurs in general were carnivorous dinosaurs, but their teeth were different from those of other dinosaurs. The front of the jaw was adapted for nipping off big chunks of meat, while the back teeth were adapted for splintering bones and pulping flesh. This was a dinosaur that was much better at crushing through bone and thick flesh and thick hide than other meat-eating dinosaurs.
'Tarbosaurus bataar' is one of a group of dinosaurs - called the Nemegt fauna - that lived in the same time in what is now present-day Mongolia.

Keywords:

Tarbosaurus bataar; Mongolia; Cretaceous period; Tyrannosaurus rex; fossils

Rights:

© Museum Victoria and Education Services Australia Ltd 2009 (except where otherwise indicated). You may view, display, print out, copy and modify this material for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the material.