Teratophoneus - and other Tyrannosaurs coloring pages

 Welcome to my free coloring pages blog!

Today's new drawing is of a Teratophoneus mother and her chick.

Teratophoneus Mother and Chick at an Overlook

I have drawn this dinosaur before.  But a new discovery of 4 Teratophoneus in Southern Utah in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument has again started the debate about Tyrannosaurs living in packs.  Previously it was thought that large predators like Tyrannosaurs lived solitary lives. This view is changing.  

The change started when Phillip Curie found several Albertosaurus in Alberta, Canada several years ago.  Albertosaurus is a type of Tyrannosaur.  So is Teratophoneus.  Both were smaller than T. rex.  Teratophoneus was somewhere around 20 feet long and weighed around 1500 lbs. or about 680 kg. 

In comparison, Albertosaurus was around 30 feet long and weighed up to 5500 lbs. or almost 2500 kg. 

It appears that Teratophoneus lived in a part of North America that was separated from the Tyrannosaurs up north in what is now Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alberta, etc. It must have been some large and impassable geographic or geologic feature.  It may have been a river or an arm of the inland sea, or maybe it was the growing Rocky Mountains.  In any case, it seems that even the non-Theropod dinosaurs were different in Southern Utah and etc. There were Ceratopsians like Kosmoceratops that were very unique and different from the Cetatopsians like Triceratops that were located up north.  There is a Kosmoceratops in the drawing... out in the distance near a conifer tree. 

Teratophoneus had a somewhat shorter snout than T. rex.  It also (as mentioned) was only about half the size.  However... the original found Teratophoneus was apparently a sub-adult and so the species may have been able to grow larger.  The 4 specimens found recently include a juvenile of only about 4 years of age when it died, a full-grown adult, (I'm not sure how large), and two other individuals.  They appear to have been a pack or family group that died together.  So, along with the group of Albertosaurus found together it seems obvious that these larger Theropod Tyrannosaurs were pack hunters.  Notice that the youngster is built rather lightly.  Other juvenile Tyrannosaurs have had this lighter and therefore faster body type so it is hypothesized that the juvenile Tyrannosaurs had the job of flushing prey and driving prey animals into the ambush where the full-size adults were waiting.  Modern lionesses are faster and lighter than adult male lions and the lionesses do this. The big males wait hidden in an ambush location while the females drive the prey animals to the males. 

NOTE:  To get to the printable version of this new drawing just click on the "Paleontology" button and scroll to the bottom of the list.  I have drawn this species a few other times so I am including those drawings below.  They will be further up the printable lists.  They will still be found by clicking on the "Paleontology" button.  

Teratophoneus Sub-adult Feeding

Teratophoneus Pair

Teratophoneus and Young

(Based on the idea that perhaps many of the Theropods were feathered)

This is a pair of Teratophoneus on display at the 

Natural History Museum of Utah 

at the University of Utah.

Since I mentioned Albertosaurus I am including some 

older drawings of this species of Tyrannosaur as well.  

Albertosaurus by a Stream

Albertosaurus with Leopard Pattern Spots

(This was a Mother's Day drawing.)

I also and including a few of my Tyrannosaurus rex drawings.  

T. rex with Eggs

(This is one of my early drawings.)

Tyrannosaurus rex sleeping

Tyrannosaurus rex with Blood Python pattern
(This is one of my better T. rex drawings.)

Lythronax the Gore King

(This was a smaller and feathered Tyrannosaur.)

Lythronax with Protofeathers