Articulated Tyrannosaurus Rex Foot

THE EXQUISITELY PRESERVED RIGHT FOOT OF A TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Tyrannosaurus rex is the largest and heaviest two-legged predator ever to have existed, reigning supreme as the dominant and undisputed land predator during its time on Earth approximately 67 million years ago. Offered here is a complete and incredibly well-preserved articulated skeleton of the right foot of an adult T. rex. The biomechanics of the feet and legs of these animals were an evolutionary masterpiece, allowing T. rex to keep its massive body balanced on two legs while standing, running, and hunting.

Tyrannosaurs had proportionally the longest feet of any other large, carnivorous dinosaur, with ligaments that strengthened the soles of their feet near their toes, allowing them to move at speeds higher than their massive size would suggest. Recently studied footprints indicate that these predators also had substantial soft tissue on the undersides of their feet, protecting their hindlimbs through natural cushioning and modifying the shape of their feet to be much less angular than those of other dinosaurs. They bore much of their weight on their toes, primarily the central front digit, which scientists believe gave them the ability to dig into the ground for increased grip. In these ways and more, the feet of Tyrannosaurus rex were critical to its unparalleled predatory dominance.

In 1902, the first T. rex fossils were unearthed in the Hell Creek Formation — where this specimen was found — by Barnum Brown ("Mr. Bones"), a paleontologist with the American Museum of Natural History. In 1905, Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History and Barnum Brown’s employer, said in reference to one of Brown’s finds:

"I propose to make this animal the type of the new genus, Tyrannosaurus, in reference to its size, which far exceeds that of any carnivorous land animal hitherto described…This animal is in fact the ne plus ultra of the evolution of the large carnivorous dinosaurs: in brief it is entitled to the royal and high sounding group name which I have applied to it."

On 30 December 1905, the New York Times dubbed Tyrannosaurus rex “The Prize Fighter of Antiquity.” And indeed, no animal elicits a combination of fascination, fear, and reverence quite like that of the "tyrant lizard king.” Its lethal combination of powerful hind limbs and bone-crushing bite force led T. rex to dominate the western landscape of Late Cretaceous North America, hunting virtually every large dinosaur in its environment including Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Ornithomimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and even other tyrannosaurs.

REFERENCES:

Brown, Barnum. “Field Letter from Barnum Brown to Henry Fairfield Osborn, Aug. 12, 1902.” Field Letter - American Museum of Natural History. Accessed 2025.

Carrano, Matthew T., and John R. Hutchinson. “Pelvic and Hindlimb Musculature of Tyrannosaurus Rex (Dinosauria: Theropoda).” J. Morphol. 253, no. 3 (2002): 207–28.

Osborn, Henry Fairfield. Tyrannosaurus and Other Cretaceous Carnivorous Dinosaurs. New York, NY: American Museum of Natural History, 1905.

Persons, W. Scott, Philip J. Currie, and Gregory M. Erickson. “An Older and Exceptionally Large Adult Specimen of Tyrannosaurus Rex.” The Anatomical Record 303 (2020): 656–72.