Describer

Lambe, 1914

Time

Cretaceous Late Campanian Maastrichtian

Classification

Saurischia Theropoda Tyrannosauria Tyrannosauridae Tyrannosaurinae Albertosaurini

Diet

Carnivore

Fossilsite

Judith River Group (Wedge), Alberta, Canada; Judith River Formation, (Wedge) Montana Fruitland Formation, Kirtland Formation, New Mexico, US

Fall Under

Gorgosaurus

Length

8 meter

Info

Typespecies - Skin

Gorgosaurus > Gorgosaurus libratus (Lambe, 1914) >> Albertosaurus libratus (Lambe, 1914) Gorgosaurus > Gorgosaurus sternbergi (Matthew & Brown, 1923) >> Albertosaurus sternbergi (Matthew & Brown, 1923)

USNM 12814 \\\\\\\"Free dragon lizard\\\\\\\". In the 1970s, a major study of the family Tyrannosauridae concluded that Gorgosaurus and Albertosaurus were the same genus, and that the only differences between the two were suggested not only by comparisons of dissimilar growth stages, but also by variations between populations. Albertosaurus was named first, so according to the rules of biological nomonclature, its name had priority. However, recent work by Phillip Currie at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology has shown that these two dinosaurs are, in fact, separate and valid genera.

The promaxillary fenestra was close to the maxillary fenestra, the maxillary fenestra is oval and separaed from the antorbital fenestra by a wide bar of the maxilla. The acromial process of the scapula is very deep, and the tibia is relatively robust (Carpenter, 1992).