Things everybody “knows” about T. rex
Some came from old museum displays, some from films and some from one very famous painter. Here they are, gently corrected.
Myth T. rex stood upright and dragged its tail.
Fact By 1970 scientists realised the pose was wrong: a living animal standing like that would have dislocated its joints. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus Today T. rex is shown with its body roughly level with the ground and its tail held out behind to balance the head. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus
Myth T. rex was just a scavenger.
Fact Was T. rex a hunter or a scavenger? It was one of palaeontology’s longest debates. Most palaeontologists today accept it was a predator that would also scavenge when it could. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus · checked 24 Oct 2026 One Edmontosaurus has the tip of a T. rex tooth stuck in its tail bones, with new bone grown around it: it survived the attack. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus
Myth Its arms were useless.
Fact Small, but strong: the bones show large areas where muscles attached. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus The biceps muscle of an adult T. rex could lift an estimated 199 kg on its own, 3.5 times more powerful than a human’s. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus · checked 24 Oct 2026
Myth T. rex was covered in feathers like a big chicken.
Fact Skin impressions from a T. rex nicknamed Wyrex show patches of small scales on the tail, hip and neck. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus A 2017 study concluded that if big tyrannosaurids like T. rex had feathers at all, they were limited to the top of the back. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus · checked 24 Oct 2026
Myth T. rex fought Triceratops all the time.
Fact A Triceratops brow horn and frill bone carry partly healed T. rex tooth marks. The Triceratops survived, but it is not known which animal started the fight. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus Charles R. Knight (1874–1953) painted dinosaurs for museums. His mural of Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops helped make the two “mortal enemies” in popular culture. Wikipedia: Charles R. Knight
Myth Stand still and T. rex can’t see you.
Fact One study estimated that T. rex had a binocular range of 55 degrees, more than a modern hawk. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus · checked 24 Oct 2026 Estimates of its eye size suggest it saw poorly in low light and hunted during the day. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus · checked 24 Oct 2026
Myth T. rex and Stegosaurus lived together.
Fact Stegosaurus lived between 155 and 145 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic. Wikipedia: Stegosaurus Its fossils come from rocks dated to the end of the Cretaceous period, 69 to 66 million years ago. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus
Myth T. rex killed with a poisonous, germy bite.
Fact An old idea that T. rex killed with a germ-filled, infectious bite has been undermined. Wikipedia: Tyrannosaurus
Myth All the dinosaurs died out.
Fact Birds are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived. Wikipedia: Dinosaur