Tarbosaurus
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Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superoder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Superfamily:	†Tyrannosauroidea
Family:	†Tyrannosauridae
Genus:	†Tarbosaurus
Species:	†T. bataar (type)

Tarbosaurus was a genus of tyrannosaurid from Asia. This large, close relative of Tyrannosaurus lived in the Nemegt Formation during Maastrichtian Stage Stage (Late Cretaceous)

DescriptionEdit

Despite being smaller than Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus was a very large member of the family Tyrannosauridae . They measured 10-12 meters (30 to 40 feet) long and 5 meters (16 ft) tall. It had second the largest skull of any tyrannosaur, except for T. rex itself. The skull was tall, but not as wide as Tyrannosaurus. The largest known fossil of a Tarbosaurus skull about 1.3 meters (4 feet) long, lined with between 60 and 64 teeth, with the longest 85 mm (3.3 in). This is 2-6 more teeth than T. rex had, but fewer than some basal tyrannosaurids.

AnatomyEdit

The skull of Tarbosaurus wasn't formally described until 2003. Tarbosaurus lacked the bony struts present in the skulls of American tyrannosaurs and the connection between the nasals and lacrimals was not very strong. Another major difference between Tarbosaurus and North American tyrannosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus, was its more stiff, rigid mandible. Unlike other tyrannosaurs who had some flexibility, Tarbosaurus had lost that ability. It has been speculated that the ridged skull of Tarbosaurus would have been ideal for helping bring down large titanosaurs, for no sauropod was present in North America during this time in history. The back of the skull was unexpanded, meaning the eyes did not face directly forward. This suggests the lack of binocular vision, meaning Tarbosaurus probably lived in a word of smell, hunting dinosaurs such as the hadrosaur Saurolophus and the sauropod Nemegtosaurus. Classification

Tarbosaurus is considered a member of the family Tyrannosauridae, and even a sister taxon Tyrannosaurus , were as the comparable Daspletosaurus is considered a more basal relative of the two. At one point, Tarbosaurus bataar was referred to as Tyrannosaurus bataar, but is no considered a separate genus all together.