“The Tyrant of the Dinosaur Park”
Binomial Gorgosaurus libratus · GOR-goh-SORE-us
Late Cretaceous - 76-75 Ma
IllustrationGorgosaurus fossil records in Fossil Atlas are mapped as selected modern discovery locations, with 10 source-backed records currently shown. Western Canada and northern interior North America, especially Dinosaur Park and related Late Cretaceous records; occasional outlier records should be read with source caveats. Key mapped formations in the current dataset include Belly River Fm, JUDITH RIVER FM., UPPER, Judith River Fm. These pins are fossil record locations, not a complete ancient habitat map.
Gorgosaurus was a Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurid from western Canada. Fossil Atlas uses its selected records to deepen the Dinosaur Park and Judith River cluster while separating it from the later Hell Creek T. rex story.
Drawn true to scale on a metre ruler.
Length
measured8.5 m · 28 ft
Largest known specimens
Height
measured3 m (10 ft)
Body mass
estimate2,500 kg · 5,500 lb
Typical adult
Top speed
estimate39 km/h · 24 mph
Modelled, debated
Gorgosaurus was the apex predator of the Dinosaur Park Formation, filling the same ecological role that T. rex later filled in the Hell Creek. It was lighter and more slender than T. rex, possibly faster, and its teeth and skull were built for the same style of bone-crushing predation. It likely targeted the large hadrosaurs and ceratopsians that dominated the herbivore community.
Build
Lighter than T. rex with a slightly narrower skull. The proportional difference suggests Gorgosaurus was a more active pursuit predator, though both were probably capable of pursuit and ambush.
Teeth
Deeply rooted with the same basic form as all tyrannosaurids: thick, rounded cross-section rather than blade-like, designed for crushing bone rather than slicing.
Stomach contents
Some Gorgosaurus specimens preserve stomach contents, confirming it fed on young hadrosaurs. This is one of the few direct dietary records for any large theropod.
The Dinosaur Park prey community
Gorgosaurus shared the formation with Corythosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Centrosaurus, and Styracosaurus, giving it a rich and varied prey community.
Position of this animal’s known range across 252 million years of the Mesozoic and beyond.
76-75 million years ago
Gorgosaurus was a close tyrannosaurid relative of later giant predators such as T. rex.
Its Dinosaur Park context makes it a useful comparison point for T. rex pages.
It helps Fossil Atlas show that tyrannosaurids were diverse before the very end of the Cretaceous.
Charles M. Sternberg collected the first Gorgosaurus skeleton from the Dinosaur Park Formation in 1913 and Lawrence Lambe named it in 1914. Multiple specimens are known, including the individuals with preserved stomach contents. There has been ongoing discussion about whether Gorgosaurus should be placed within Albertosaurus, a closely related Canadian tyrannosaurid, though most current classifications keep them as separate genera.
Animals known from the same deposits and time as Gorgosaurus.
Other members of Tyrannosauridae.
Tyrannosaurus rex
The later, larger North American tyrannosaurid that evolved from the same lineage several million years after Gorgosaurus.
Tarbosaurus
The Asian equivalent, filling the same apex role in the Mongolian Nemegt Formation at roughly the same time as T. rex.
Albertosaurus
A closely related Canadian tyrannosaurid from slightly later deposits, often discussed alongside Gorgosaurus in taxonomic debates.
Pins show selected fossil records for Gorgosaurus; use them as modern discovery evidence, not a complete range map. Modern fossil discovery map: pins show where selected fossil and specimen records were found today, not ancient Earth positions. What does this mean?
Specimen evidence
These are sourced specimen assets, separate from reconstruction artwork. Only media with clear open or reusable rights is displayed by default.
Gorgosaurus sp. (YPM VP 009834). Digital Image: Yale Peabody Museum; photo by Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Yale Peabody Museum 2016
Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Yale Peabody Museum
Gorgosaurus (YPM VPPU 022339). Digital Image: Yale Peabody Museum; photo by Marilyn Fox 2013
Marilyn Fox
Carnosauria (YPM VPPU 023477). Digital Image: Yale Peabody Museum; photo by Marilyn Fox 2013
Marilyn Fox
Gorgosaurus (YPM VPPU 024969). Digital Image: Yale Peabody Museum; photo by Marilyn Fox 2013
Marilyn Fox
Gorgosaurus is represented here by selected fossil records from western canada and northern interior north america, especially dinosaur park and related late cretaceous records; occasional outlier records should be read with source caveats. Fossil Atlas maps those records as modern discovery locations.
No. The map shows modern fossil discovery locations from selected records. Ancient habitat and paleogeographic reconstructions are separate questions.
The current Fossil Atlas records include Belly River Fm. Formation coverage depends on the selected dataset and may not be complete.
Yes. Use the expedition card generator to turn the Gorgosaurus map and specimen profile into a shareable card.
Selected fossil records from PBDB and museum biodiversity aggregators. This is not a complete fossil count by country; source labels and confidence notes help distinguish canonical paleobiology records from specimen-media records.
Reconstruction images are labeled illustrations and do not represent fossil evidence. Size, speed, and bite-force figures are typical published estimates and remain subject to revision as new specimens are described.
Maps use curated PBDB, museum, and specimen-source records with visible caveats.
Pins show where fossils were found or reported today, not exact ancient habitat positions.
Artwork is labeled separately from specimen photos, maps, and source records.
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