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ThalassoAtrox β€” The Giant Claw: Tarbosaurus bataar

#tarbosaurus #tyrannosaurus #walkingwithdinosaurs
Published: 2023-09-10 18:13:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 7450; Favourites: 130; Downloads: 10
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Description None of the larger theropods in the WW series have aged very well, common issues include shrinkwrapping, inaccurately shaped heads, pronated hands, and legs that are too long, further exacerbated by the constant recycling and tweaking of models. The T. rex from "Death of a Dynasty" is no exception, not helped by additional mistakes like a tail that's too short and very hoof-like foot claws, so head-swapping and repainting that model for Tarbosaurus bataar doesn't do the latter any favors, asides from having a somewhat more accurate head, which is quite distinct from that of its famous American cousin, being narrower and not having the same superb binocular vision .

Like T. rex, Tarbosaurus bataar is very well understood, boasting multiple well-preserved specimens of various ages , though being the best-known Asian tyrannosaur/tyrannosaurid, it has also been used as a wastebasket taxon for any fragmentary tyrannosaurid fossils found across Late Cretaceous Asia (75-66 mya), such as the Djadochta, Yuliangze, Udurchukan, and Subashi Formation, but really, this genus/species is only conclusively known from the Nemegt Formation, dating to the middle Maastrichtian (70-68 mya). Interestingly, at the time T. bataar was alive, so was its slightly smaller Alaskan cousin Nanuqsaurus (the Arctic tyrant) and the more distantly related Albertosaurus, who stalked southern Alberta and Montana, while in Argentina, we had the horned abelisaurid Carnotaurus and the giant megaraptoran Maip. The mid Maastrichtian is a fairly fossil-rich period, more so than the late Maastrichtian in fact, and it's not limited to just Nemegt.

I actually don't have much to say about WW's Tarbosaurus, as it is a fairly standard WW theropod and mainly serves the purpose of giving Therizinosaurus a scary rival to fight off. Aside from differences in the skull, it was fairly similar to T. rex but slightly smaller, at around 10-11 meters based on the largest known specimens, but it was still the apex predator of the Nemegt biome, being more than capable of taking on most prey animals it coexisted with. The color scheme given to it in the original isn't the most visually interesting, so like with Saurolophus, I gave it brighter colors, including some pinkish-red markings around the eyes and on its throat. Speaking of the latter, while it's a bit of a bad habit of mine to give dinosaurs and especially big theropods throat sacks, for Tarbosaurus, this might actually be confirmed, as one specimen (which may or may not have been destroyed by fossil poachers) is said to have been found with impressions of a dewlap or throat pouch beneath the lower jaw, and if true, it could apply to other tyrannosaurids like T. rex.

Anatomical Reference: www.deviantart.com/franoys/art…
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redrex96 [2023-09-12 18:05:16 +0000 UTC]

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asari13 [2023-09-10 21:59:19 +0000 UTC]

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