# Tyrannosaurus rex: everyone's favorite dinosaur, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938 "2010-06-29T15:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/1 "2010-06-29T15:28:02Z")
There can be no debate: T. Rex is the world’s most popular dino. Oh sure, there may be a few contrarians out there. They’ll say, “Well, I happen to like the Ankylosaurus”, or “No, man, the Plesiosaur had it goin’ on!” And, of course, the raptor fanboys will tell you that theirs is the coolest big lizard. Face it, though; T. Rex, as the name implies, is The King. The Elvis of dinosaurs, if you will…(s)he’s everywhere. So, here’s your chance to profess your love of the guy with the big teeth and the little hands. Have you been to see [Sue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_(dinosaur))? How about the T. Rex at [Wall Drug](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB3yYzGciAI&feature=related) or the big statue at [Cabazon](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/12/dd/86/mr-rex.jpg)? Or, maybe, you had a bad experience with Barney growing up. In that case, feel free to explain why T. Rex _ **isn’t** _ your favorite terrible lizard. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/2 "2010-06-29T15:36:33Z")
I was always partial to Triceratops though I have no idea why. They just seemed cool to my eight year old self. [Favorite dinosaur book.](http://www.amazon.com/Enormous-Egg-Oliver-Butterworth/dp/0316119202) ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/3 "2010-06-29T15:41:40Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I was always partial to Triceratops though I have no idea why. They just seemed cool to my eight year old self. > > [Favorite dinosaur book.](http://www.amazon.com/Enormous-Egg-Oliver-Butterworth/dp/0316119202) Me too, except for the not knowing why part. It’s those horns; they sort of snarl “Yeah, come get some mo fo”. ---
**Author:** ![Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Ambihelical\_Hexnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambihelical_Hexnut)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/4 "2010-06-29T16:03:29Z")
I always liked the Stegosaurus. The plates on its back look really cool, and I’m amazed that such a huge animal could function with a brain the size of a peanut. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/5 "2010-06-29T16:06:32Z")
Velociraptor! Okay, okay. I know they were smaller and slightly wussier than Spielberg’s raptors. But they have awesome names. Can I choose Utahraptor? Then again, Utahraptor will never sound as cool as velociraptor! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/6 "2010-06-29T16:18:47Z")
See, I always preferred triceratops because she looks so gentle, but you just know if someone messes with her, she can take care of herself. She’s the ultimate Mama Bear. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/7 "2010-06-29T16:23:48Z")
Nope, not really a T. Rex fan. They were always eating my favorite dinos. I like the Hadrosaurs (back when they were called Duck-billed dinosaurs). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/8 "2010-06-29T16:25:29Z")
Another Triceratops fan. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/9 "2010-06-29T16:28:19Z")
Triceratops for me, too! T-Rex have those silly little arms, and they are mean… ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/10 "2010-06-29T16:32:40Z")
Triceratops. I love the headgear. I’m also fond of Anklyosaurus and Stegosaurus. I still have a photo of myself about age 4 with my little sister, about 2, and the Steggie outside the Cleveland Natural History Museum: [http://www.cmnh.org/site/AtTheMuseum/OnExhibit/PermanentExhibits/Steggie.aspx](http://www.cmnh.org/site/AtTheMuseum/OnExhibit/PermanentExhibits/Steggie.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/11 "2010-06-29T16:36:19Z")
Having grown up near the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, their T. Rex was the only one for me. A lot of your new whipper-snapper T. Rexes like **Sue** hadn’t been discovered yet, and I think the next nearest T. Rex was at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. IIRC, Asimov liked looking at the AMNH T. Rex, too, as described in _the Tyrannosaurus Prescription_. The skull on the mounterd skeleton wasn’t the real skull – that was kept in a separate case nearby. Theirs was the most perfect skull that had been discovered to that point (despite being slightly crushed to one side), and they didn’t want to risk suspending it some 30 feet above thefloor. The skeleton had a cast skull in place of the real one. As for my fave, I was more partial to brontosaurs (apatosaurs, nowadays), maybe because they had been depicted as “friendlier”. The movie **Dinosaurus** , and several other books and comics, had depicted people riding on brontosaurs, right where the neck meets the torso. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/12 "2010-06-29T16:36:44Z")
Hmm…is triceratops the favorite dinosaur of the girls? It’s looking like it… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/13 "2010-06-29T16:37:30Z")
I used to be a [Sue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_(dinosaur)) docent at the Field Museum, so yeah, I will admit to a fondness for t-rexes. That was a fun gig. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/14 "2010-06-29T16:38:14Z")
Utahraptor is my favorite, because they’re raptors and they’re way more badass than velociraptors. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/15 "2010-06-29T16:38:41Z")
😕 Triceratops? :dubious: Hmmm…maybe I should ask the mods to change my thread title? 😛 [Me and _ **my** _ favorite dino, circa 1962](http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/A0BzSUkcNeprOpnw4vgeFg?) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/16 "2010-06-29T16:40:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \As for my fave, I was more partial to brontosaurs (apatosaurs, nowadays), maybe because they had been depicted as “friendlier”. The movie **Dinosaurus** , and several other books and comics, had depicted people riding on brontosaurs, right where the neck meets the torso. In other words, you are partial to the “Jesus horses” D & R Although not dinosaurs, I am partial to mosasaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/17 "2010-06-29T16:42:22Z")
I like [Pachycephalosaurus](http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/dino/Pachycephalosaurus_J01-Dinosaur-Face.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/18 "2010-06-29T16:44:00Z")
Sorry, flight trumps all else. Pterries have to win the prehistoric reptile contest. Next best thing to a dragon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/19 "2010-06-29T16:44:53Z")
> [@](#): > > I like Pachycephalosaurus I used to think Pachycephalosaurus was cool, until I really paid attention to the display case at the AMNH. The similar Stegoceras was the big one. The Pachy was a little skull smaller than a tennis ball. Maybe it was a juvenile. Maybe it’s better call it “cute”, but it’s no longer on my list of “cool” dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/20 "2010-06-29T16:46:21Z")
I was a brontosaurus fan. Maybe I’m rewriting history but I think finding out about the whole apatosaurus thing killed my enthusiasm for dinosaurs. I was also a fan of parasaurolophus and ankylosaurus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938.md?page=2)