Daspletosaurus
Daspletosaurus torosus was a dinosaur that lived 71-65 million years ago. That time frame was during the late part of the Cretaceous period.
Daspletosaurus was a carnivore and walked on two legs. Each foot had three clawed toes and each hand had two fingers. The length of Daspletosaurus was 26-33 feet (8-10 m.) and it stood 9 feet (2.7 m.) high. This creature weighed 2-3.5 tons.
Daspletosaurus had teeth that were sharp, curved, and saw-edged. It was closely related to Tyrannosaurus rex. Daspletosaurus and Tyrannosaurus were in the family called Tyrannosauridae.
Fossils of Daspletosaurus have been found in Montana in the U.S.A. and in Alberta, Canada. The name Daspletosaurus literally means "frightful lizard". Some paleontologists think that Daspletosaurus may have hunted in packs. It is very possible that groups of Daspletosauruses may have worked together to bring down prey.
Neal Robbins
P.S. The taxonomy of Daspletosaurus is:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Archosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Family: Tyrannosauridae
Genus: Daspletosaurus
The type species is Daspletosaurus torosus.
P.S. Dale Alan Russell gave Daspletosaurus its official name in 1970.
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