Walking with Dinosaurs Torosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus Rex

Seventeen roaring, snarling "live" dinosaurs mesmerize the audience and are as awe-inspiring as when they first walked the earth. The stars of the show include Tyrannosaurus Rex, Utahraptor, Stegosaurus, and the largest of them, the Brachiosaurus, which is 36 feet tall and 56 feet long from nose to tail.

The show depicts the dinosaurs' evolution spanning their entire *200 million year reign. The history of the world is played out with almost cinematic realism, including scenes of the daily interactions between dinosaurs. You will see how carnivorous dinosaurs evolved to walk on two legs, and how the herbivores fended off their more agile predators.

With its formidable horns and powerful, muscular body, Torosaurus (meaning Bull reptile) was like a dinosaur version of a rhinoceros. Featuring an enormous neck frill, Torosaurus had the largest skull of any terrestrial animal. The bony frill had large fenestrae, or holes, to reduce weight and may have been brightly coloured and used for display. Apart from the large frill, Torosaurus was similar in appearance to its close relative, Triceratops. Both ceratopsians had two long horns sprouting above the eyes with a smaller horn on the snout. Torosaurus used its sharp beak and rows of shearing teeth to munch tough vegetation. Fossilized footprints identified as ceratopsian trackways indicate that the forelegs were slightly splayed, with the hind legs straight under the body, similar to a rhinoceros.

The last and largest of the tank-like armoured dinosaurs, Ankylosaurus (meaning Fused reptile) was well protected from big meat eaters. Large bony plates, which probably had additional horn-like coverings, protected its flanks. The skull was thick with two pairs of sharp horns at the back of the head. Parts of the tail vertebrae were fused like the handle of a club, while the base of the tail remained flexible. The end of the tail was a large bony club which would have been a devastating defensive weapon wielded against attacking predators. Analysis of Ankylosauruss brain cavity indicates the most highly developed part of its brain was devoted to its sense of smell.

Tyrannosaurus (meaning Tyrant Lizard), was one of the largest terrestrial carnivors of all time being roughly six tonnes in weight. Tyrannosauruss massive skull was balanced by a long, heavy tail. The heavily reinforced skull of T.rex suggests that it was a devastating predator, with bone-crushing bite strength. The jaws were armed with 150mm long, sharp, serrated teeth. Relative to the large and powerful hind limbs, Tyrannosaurus forelimbs were small and retained only two digits. Recent specimens have shown the tiny arms to have been well-muscled, presumably to enable the animal to anchor itself to the ground as it attempted to straighten its hind legs and stand up from a prone position. It was among the last dinosaurs to exist prior to the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. More than 30 specimens of T.rex have now been identified, some nearly complete, which has allowed significant research into many aspects of its biology, including its life history and biomechanics.

*lol

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Walking
• with
• dinosaurs
• Torosaurus
• Ankylosaurus
• Tyrannosaurus
• Rex