Tarbosaurus

alarming lizard

• tarbos · Greek · alarm, terror, awe
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "tarbos" (alarm or terror) with "sauros" (lizard), so it means "alarming lizard" or "terror lizard". It was chosen for this large tyrannosaurid predator from the Late Cretaceous of Asia. Its type species is Tarbosaurus bataar, whose species name is a Mongolian word for "hero".

Named by

Maleev

Year named

1955

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia (also reported from China)

A tyrannosaurid theropod, very closely related to Tyrannosaurus. Some researchers have argued it should be placed in Tyrannosaurus (as T. bataar), but most treat Tarbosaurus as a distinct genus.