Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 23, 2010

Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that flourished in Asia between 70 and 65 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been recovered in Mongolia with more fragmentary remains found further afield in parts of China. Some experts contend that this species is actually an Asian representative of the North American genus Tyrannosaurus; if true, this would invalidate the genus Tarbosaurus altogether. Like most known tyrannosaurids, Tarbosaurus was a large bipedal predator, weighing more than a ton and equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. It had a unique locking mechanism in its lower jaw and the smallest forelimbs relative to body size of all tyrannosaurids, renowned for their disproportionately tiny, two-fingered forelimbs. Tarbosaurus lived in a humid floodplain criss-crossed by river channels. In this environment, it was an apex predator at the top of the food chain, probably preying on other large dinosaurs like the hadrosaur Saurolophus or the sauropod Nemegtosaurus. Tarbosaurus is very well-represented in the fossil record, known from dozens of specimens, including several complete skulls and skeletons. These remains have allowed scientific studies focusing on its phylogeny, skull mechanics, and brain structure. (more...)

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