Contrary to popular belief, the T. rex did not live during the Jurassic period. It lived millions of years later, during the late Cretaceous period, roughly 90 to 66 million years ago.

Tyrannosaurus is Greek for "tyrant lizard," and rex means "king" in Latin.

A study in 2012 by Karl Bates and Peter Falkingham found that Tyrannosaurus had the most powerful bite of any terrestrial animal that has ever lived. In fact, the bone-shattering bite of a T. rex could have crushed a car, delivering up to six tons (12,000 lbs) of pressure to its hapless victims.

Scientists believe this powerful predator could eat up to 500 pounds (230 kilograms) of meat in one bite--about the size of an adult male tiger.

Based on fossil specimens, scientists have determined that a Tyrannosaurus rex could be up to 40 feet long and 12 feet high and weigh between 11,000 and 19,500 pounds (5,000 and 9,000 kilograms). That's about as much as the largest African elephant.

Tyrannosaurus lived throughout Laramidia, an island continent that existed during the Late Cretaceous period when the Western Interior Seaway split the continent of North America in two. The seaway eventually shrank, split across the Dakotas, and retreated towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay. Laramidia and Appalachia then joined to unite the North American continent.

By applying modified perimetry to facial reconstructions, scientists estimate that Tyrannosaurus had 13 times the visual acuity of a human and even surpassed the visual acuity of an eagle. They also had very large olfactory bulbs and olfactory nerves relative to their brain size, suggesting a heightened sense of smell similar to modern vultures, which can detect carcasses by scent alone across great distances. Somewhat unusually among theropods, T. rex had a very long cochlea as well, suggesting a heightened sense of hearing, which was probably strongest in the low-frequency range.

Teeth from what is now documented as a Tyrannosaurus rex were found in 1874 by Arthur Lakes near Golden, Colorado--pre-dating famous fossil hunter Barnum Brown's 1902 discovery in Hell Creek, Montana.

Standing up to 15 meters high and weighing more than 5 tons, Tyrannosaurus Rex was massive--but his arms were only about 1 meter (3 feet) long, and some scholars have labelled them as vestigial. The bones show large areas for muscle attachment, however, indicating considerable strength.

With a 1½ meter jaw filled with 60 nine-inch bone-crunching teeth, Tyrannosaurus probably didn't need to use his hands much!