Daspletosaurus Dinosaur Claw Replica

$18.00

As an apex predator, Daspletosaurus or Daspletosaurus torosus was at the top of the food chain, probably preying on large dinosaurs like the ceratopsid Centrosaurus and the hadrosaur Hypacrosaurus.

Description

Daspletosaurus Dinosaur Claw Replica measures 4 x 1.5 inches. Daspletosaurus Dinosaur Claw Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in the USA. Daspletosaurus torosus is the scientific name. Our precise claw can be used as a teaching tool, museum claw exhibit, home décor claw, or office décor claw.

Daspletosaurus meaning “frightful lizard” was a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in western North America between about 77 and 74 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.

The genus Daspletosaurus contains two species. Fossils of the earlier type species, D. torosus, have been found in Alberta, while fossils of the later second species, D. horneri, have been found only in Montana. A possible third species, also from Alberta, awaits formal identification. (Daspletosaurus sp.)

Daspletosaurus or Daspletosaurus torosus is closely related to the much larger and more recent tyrannosaurid Tyrannosaurus rex. Like most tyrannosaurids, Daspletosaurus was a multi-ton bipedal predator equipped with dozens of large, sharp teeth. Daspletosaurus had the small forelimbs typical of tyrannosaurids, although they were proportionately longer than in other genera.

As an apex predator, Daspletosaurus or Daspletosaurus torosus was at the top of the food chain, probably preying on large dinosaurs like the ceratopsid Centrosaurus and the hadrosaur Hypacrosaurus.

In some areas, Daspletosaurus coexisted with another tyrannosaurid, Gorgosaurus, though there is some evidence of niche differentiation between the two. While Daspletosaurus fossils are rarer than other tyrannosaurids’, the available specimens allow some analysis of the biology of these animals, including social behavior, diet and life history.

While very large by the standard of modern predators, Daspletosaurus was not the largest tyrannosaurid.

Daspletosaurus or Daspletosaurus torosus had a massive skull that could reach 3 ft. 3 in. in length. The bones were heavily constructed and some, including the nasal bones on top of the snout, were fused for strength.

Large fenestrae (openings) in the skull reduced its weight. An adult Daspletosaurus was armed with about six dozen teeth that were very long but oval in cross section rather than blade-like. Unlike its other teeth, those in the premaxilla at the end of the upper jaw had a D-shaped cross section, an example of heterodonty always seen in tyrannosaurids.

Unique skull features included the rough outer surface of the maxilla (upper jaw bone) and the pronounced crests around the eyes on the lacrimal, postorbital, and jugal bones. The eye socket was a tall oval, somewhere in between the circular shape seen in Gorgosaurus and the ‘keyhole’ shape of Tyrannosaurus. Split carinae (edges) have been found on Daspletosaurus or Daspletosaurus torosus teeth.

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Additional information

Weight 1.5 lbs
Dimensions 4 × 1.5 in
Daspletosaurus Facts:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Tyrannosauridae
Subfamily: †Tyrannosaurinae
Genus: †Daspletosaurus
Type Species: †Daspletosaurus torosus