Dinosaur Hall - Theropods
Theropod dinosaurs were meat-eaters (except for a
very few that returned to eating plants) who walked
on their two hind legs. Theropods ranged in size
from relatively small, such as the Coelurosaur seen
here, to the great Tyrannosaurs. Many theropods had
feathers, and birds are their descendants.
Tyrannosaurus bataar

T. bataar was a ferocious meat-eating dinosaur
that lived during the Cretaceous Period, 80 million
years ago. This fossil cast is of a juvenile
individual, which at maturity might have attained a
length of 45 feet. Although this specimen roamed
Mongolia, it is a close relative of the
Tyrannosaurus rex that inhabited the Southwestern
United States.
Tyrannosaurus rex

The “Tyrant Lizard King” is arguably the most
famous dinosaur and among the largest meat-eating
dinosaurs. Although well known and widespread, it is
comparatively rare. T. rex fossils are known from
Texas to Montana.
Zuni Coelurosaur

The name Coelurosaur refers to the large group
of carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaurs that includes
Allosaurus, Tryannosaurus and Velociraptor. The most
advanced members of this group are related to birds
and may have had feathers. This dinosaur is a new
species not yet named. Its nickname is “Little
Tooth.” The “raptors,” small bipedal meat-eaters
with a “killer claw,” may have been the wolves of
the Cretaceous, hunting big game in packs. This
small dinosaur was more like a coyote, a fast moving
predator hunting small prey.
These remains were found by expeditions sponsored
by the Arizona Museum of Natural History, now the Arizona Museum
of Natural History, in deposits near the Arizona-New
Mexico border dating to 90 million years ago. The
same rocks contain fossils of the horned dinosaur
Zuniceratops, the bizarre looking therizinosaur
dinosaur Nothronychus and fossil turtles, fish,
crocodiles and lizards.
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