T. rex Vision and Dark Scales like a Crocodile or Alligator

T. rex with Triceratops in the Distance

Tyrannosaurus was the largest or at least one of the largest land predators ever to live on our planet.  The rather excellent movie, in my opinion, Jurassic Park ... portrayed T. rex as having vision based on movement.  This is probably nonsense.  T. rex's head stood around 18 feet tall.  Those eyes would have been almost the size of a softball.  T. rex had eyes over 3 inches or 8 cm across.  

That means that T. rex could probably see in excellent high definition.  And that height would have helped T. rex to see a long ways.  T. rex eyes faced forward so it also had good depth perception.  No longer should we think of T. rex as having weak eyes.  Those foreward facing eyes would have been an excellent tool for finding and catching prey animals for lunch ... such as the Triceratops you can see in the distance.  

By the way, T. rex also had an incredible sense of smell that was way beyond what a bloodhound can smell.  That is really saying something.  But, back to the eyes and vision of T. rex.  There are two eyes visible in this drawing, but the scale pattern might make it hard to notice the further eye.  

This drawing is done with a pattern of scales similar to what some crocodilians have.  That means some scales are very dark or blackish.

NOTE:  Notice the drawing of crocodilians from older posts.  I am reposting them below so you can see what I was talking about concerning the scale patterns.  The new drawing of the T. rex is found under the "Paleontology" button up top... or under the "All Printables" button.  The new drawings are always at the bottom of the drop down menu so. . . . scroll down.  IF you want to see the crocodilian drawings then you will need to click on the "Animals" button.

Caiman by a River

This drawing does not show darker scales, but you could color it that way. 

Some crocodilians have a bit of a striped pattern with the darker scales being the stripes.

Salt Water Crocodile by a River

You could color these scales with some dark too. 

Saltwater Crocodile in the Outback

This drawing DOES have the scales with darker scales included. 

Alligator

Jaguar attacking a Caiman