4.2" Tyrannosaur (Albertosaurus?) Vertebra Centrum - Montana

Albertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 70 million years ago. It would have been very similar to a T-Rex, but was likely about half the size, weighing less than two tons.

Albertosaurus shared a similar body type with other tyrannosaurids. It was bipedal with very small forearms, each with only two claws. They could run 8-13 miles per hour and may have hunted in packs. Albertosaurus teeth had very thin serrations that would have been used to pull meat from the body of their prey rather than cut it.

About The Two Medicine Formation

The Two Medicine Formation is a geographical formation in Central Montana and Southern Alberta, Canada. The formation is predominantly sandstone laid down by rivers and deltas during the Campanian Age of the Cretaceous, about 80-75 million years ago. Approximately two thousand feet thick on the western edge, it lies on top of the Virgelle Sandstone formation and under the Bearpaw Shale. It is located between the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and the Sweetgrass Arch, a tectonic fold feature 40-90 miles east of the Front Range.

The Two Medicine is the same age as the Judith River Formation found further east. It was laid down further inland from the Western Interior Seaway, while the Judith River Formation was deposited along the coast. The Two Medicine contains much of the same dinosaur fauna, but fewer reptiles, amphibians, and aquatic fossils.