# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Dioptre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/278dde/32.png) [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/121 "2010-07-07T13:39:42Z")
Triceratops for me. What’s not to admire in a herbivore that can take out a t-rex in a one-on-one fight. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/122 "2010-07-07T14:38:42Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > I don’t think **blondebear** thought this through. 😃 Oh, I don’t know. The thread has been pretty entertaining, which is all that one can ask. I’m not really surprised that triceratops is the “winner” of the thread. But face it, they just don’t have T. Rex’s star power. Imagine the Jurrasic Park franchise with a rampaging triceratops as the main dino…it just wouldn’t be the same. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/123 "2010-07-07T14:45:11Z")
It was a movie quote from Meet the Robinsons. The bad guy tells a T. Rex to grab the boy, at which point the T.Rex says (in subtitles) “I can’t, I have this big head, and little hands. I don’t think you thought this through.” Eta: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWoM8Fr1z4w&feature=youtube\_gdata](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWoM8Fr1z4w&feature=youtube_gdata) ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/124 "2010-07-07T14:55:53Z")
Better link [www.youtube.com/watch?v=93B072j-E3I&feature=youtube\_gdatap](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93B072j-E3I&feature=youtube_gdatap) ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/125 "2010-07-07T15:37:51Z")
Mine got mentioned in the op; I love me some Ankylosaurus. Armor plated, giant club, and perfect for riding what more could you ask for from a pet dino. Not to mention some theories show spikes coming out the sides of it’s tail which only make it cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/126 "2010-07-07T16:45:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Spinosaurus _might_ have been a fish eater. Either way, it’s not like a T-Rex was going anywhere near any one of them, if it knew what was good for it. _Spinosaurus_ was _probably_ a fish-eater, which makes it more likely than “might”. And the two would never have gone anywhere near one another simply because they lived at different times. _Spinosaurus_ had gone extinct a good 25 million years before _Tyrannosaurus_ came on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/127 "2010-07-07T17:03:13Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Mine got mentioned in the op; I love me some Ankylosaurus. Armor plated, giant club, and perfect for riding what more could you ask for from a pet dino. Not to mention some theories show spikes coming out the sides of it’s tail which only make it cooler. Generally speaking, ankylosaurs come in three flavors: nodosaurids, polocanthids, and ankylosaurids. _Ankylosaurus_, of course, was one of the later - a group known for heavy armor, but no spikes. Polocanthids, such as [_Gastonia_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastonia_%28dinosaur%29), were the really spiky guys. Many older restorations which show _Ankylosaurus_ with spikes were based on incomplete specimens and assumptions about how closely related they were to the actually-spiky guys. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/128 "2010-07-07T17:08:24Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > And the two would never have gone anywhere near one another simply because they lived at different times. _Spinosaurus_ had gone extinct a good 25 million years before _Tyrannosaurus_ came on the scene. Pfft. Pedant. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/129 "2010-07-07T17:33:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Pfft. Pedant. Maybe. But it brings up a point – although it’s a fallacy to think that evolution makes animals “more advanced,” the dinosaurs that lived right before the Chicxulub impact weren’t going to be _improved_ upon. 😛 Seriously, though, _T. Rex_ might not have been the biggest, but he was a very sophisticated animal, with specialized teeth and that fantastic bite, a big brain (by dino standards), highly developed senses (especially smell) and evidence for hunting in packs. Considering how much more we’ve been learning about dinosaurs over the last 120 years or so, it’s remarkable that, even with new information about _T. Rex_ itself, and many new “competing” dinosaurs found, our initial impression of _T. Rex_ as the ultimate badass still seems to hold up. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/130 "2010-07-07T17:34:48Z")
no no no, THESE would be the best dinosaurs evar: > **[Raptor Fences](https://xkcd.com/758/)** > > If at least one person has a nightmare about being swarmed by hundreds of mouse-sized dromaeosaurids, my work will have been done. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/131 "2010-07-07T18:36:26Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > Polocanthids, such as [_Gastonia_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastonia_%28dinosaur%29), were the really spiky guys. Suddenly I understand the reason for grouping together the [Thyreophora](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyreophora). Gastonia looks like an ankylosaur did the deed with a stegosaur! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/132 "2010-07-07T18:40:17Z")
> [@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) Mine too! ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_lining](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Silver\_lining](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_lining)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/133 "2017-04-28T02:28:45Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > 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. The Sackosaurus. It had the largest set of um, you know in the dinosaur kingdom. Okay, I made that up. I’d vote for Allosaurus, a litle smaller than the T-rex, but sicneticts thing faster, and just as dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/134 "2017-04-28T02:35:17Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > 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) > [@WhyNot](#): > > 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. Oh wow, I have a lot of company. Add me to team triceratops. They just look so cool. And what whynot said. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/135 "2017-04-28T02:53:19Z")
I always thought the stegasaurus was cool, too. All those spinal plates, like a dragon. T-rex had small hands, and looked comical. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/136 "2017-04-28T02:59:46Z")
Trump is a T-Rex. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/137 "2017-04-28T03:08:05Z")
Stegosaurus all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/138 "2017-04-28T14:13:42Z")
Stegamasaurususes. 😃 There’s a whole lotta “_Fuck you!_” in that tail. Stegasarus be like “Doop de doop de doo, I’m eating some shrubs…” Therapod be all like “RAAAaaar! I’m-a-gunna eat you!” Stegasaurus is all “Fuck you, bud!” Therapod is like “Oww! Owwies! I’m gunna go hunt over _there_ now…” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/139 "2017-04-28T14:24:06Z")
Another Trike fan; I remember watching the children’s movie based on, “The Enormous Egg.” Did You Know the actual Uncle Beazly they used for that film sat on the lawn at the Smithsonian in front of the “Elephant building” for years? My folks have pix of us standing next to him. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938/140 "2017-04-28T14:36:24Z")
Another Ankylosaurus fan here. Rockin’ that armor and tail, not carin’ about anything. These days, you can’t say Tyrannosaurus without someone being all blah-blah-feathers-blah and there is absolutely no way to slap feathers on that thing without it looking derpy as shit (exhibits [A](https://images.sterlingsheehy.com/2012/07/Feathered_T-Rex-001.jpg), [B](http://oi60.tinypic.com/2zjjg1u.jpg))so I’ve lost respect for the old boy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyrannosaurus-rex-everyones-favorite-dinosaur-right/544938.md?page=8)