Gorgosaurus

What it was like

Gorgosaurus was a large, two-legged hunter with a deep skull, banana-shaped teeth, and powerful jaws. It grew to about 9 meters (30 feet) long, walking on strong hind legs while its arms stayed small, each ending in two clawed fingers. Its eyes faced partly forward, giving it good depth perception for tracking prey.

It was closely related to Albertosaurus, and more distant kin to Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, and Daspletosaurus. Gorgosaurus was likely a fast, agile hunter compared to its bulkier relatives, built more for speed than raw power.

Its world

Gorgosaurus lived from about 84 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous, across what is now Alberta and Montana, with finds also reported in North Carolina and South Dakota. Its bones come from rock layers such as Dinosaur Park, Judith River, Hell Creek, and Oldman.

It shared its floodplain habitat with plant eaters like Stegoceras and small hunters such as Troodon, Dromaeosaurus, and Saurornitholestes. In some areas it lived alongside Daspletosaurus, another large tyrannosaurid, and the two may have hunted different prey to avoid competing directly.

How it was found

Lambe named Gorgosaurus in 1914 from fossils found in Alberta. About 17 finds of the genus are known today, making it one of the better-represented tyrannosaurids in the fossil record. The type species is Gorgosaurus libratus.