Tyrannosaur Family (Phylogeny)

[Bokisaurus]

It's been a while since I created a thread
So, since we don't have one just for Tyrannosaurus yet, I figures I can create one.
I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of Mr. T, but he is everywhere, and so looking at my Collection of rexes, it's a bit overwhelming. So instead, lets look at the entire family instead. I also find the diversity of the family fascinating, so many cool names!

When one hears Tyrannosaurus, and image of Tyrannosaurus rex comes to mind. Without a doubt, T Rex is the most famous dinosaur of all time. No toy company that produces prehistoric replicas is complete without one, and it is usually one of the first species they produce. T rex is so well know that it is suffering somewhat of an over exposure. Seriously, unless a new T rex figure has something new to offer, any new figure will simply blends in with the sea of vinyl figures already out there. Fans of Mr. T will disagree with me of course.
Luckily, the Tyrannosaurus family is a huge and very diverse one. There are other tyrannosaurus species out there. Until recently, only a handful of these species has been given attention by toy companies. Tyrannosaurus rex long shadow was simply too big to get away from.

In the last few year however, things seems to be changing for Mr. T's more obscure relatives. So how do we move the spotlight onto these obscure Tyrannosaurus?
Well, it's worth taking a look at T rex's evolution in terms of how it is depicted in toy form, as well as popular image. Tyrannosaurus rex has gone to so many changes in how he is portrayed throughout the years that no other dinosaur can match the various looks he is given. He has gone from scaly, slow tail-dragging, kangaroo posed creature of the early years.Then in the 1990's we see a more upright, slimmer built , more athletic looking beast. Finally, today, we have come to one of the final and still often controversial look, a fully feathered tyrant king. We also now have a pretty complete life cycle of Mr. T, from juvenile, teenage, hunting, and finally even death.So with so much changes already under his belt, perhaps Mr. T wanted to take a quick break from the spotlight and give his lesser know relatives a chance to bask on the spotlight.

Of the major toy companies that produces prehistoric figures, both CollectA and Safari are at the forefront of focusing their attention on some of these more obscure species of tyrannosaurs. To date, Safari has five, and CollectA has eight figures, while Kaiyodo and Takara Tomy split the others.
The family tyrannosaur is also widespread. Representative of the family dotted the globe, from Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Of the 25 species of Tyrannosaurs currently known, 15 of them now have toy representation. This makes the family one of the most represented in the toy world.

Lets take a look at each one of them, but before we do that, I would like to mention that I have chosen only one figure to represent the species, although some of them have multiple versions out there. This is mostly due to the daunting task of rounding them all up. So, I invite you to show off your collection as well. Now the figures.

Proceratosaurus ( Before Ceratosaurus)- A small Jurassic relative from Europe. Figure by CollectA


Guanlong ( Crown Dragon)- A small relative from Asia. Figure from Dino Expo ( I think its from Capcom?). Gained early popularity, but seems to have been eclipsed by Yutyrannus.


Yutyrannus (Feathered Tyrant)- A medium size relative from the Early Cretaceous of China. Figure by Wild Safari. A rising star.


Dilong (Emperor Dragon) - A small Cretaceous relative from China. Figure by Safari Carnegie


Eotyrannus (Dawn Tyrant) - A small relative from Cretaceous England.Figure by CollectA


Xiongguanlong (Xiongguan Dragon) - A small relative from Cretaceous China.Figure by CollectA


Bistahieversor (Bistahi Destroyer) - A medium size relative from Cretaceous American Southwest.Figure by CollectA


Gorgosaurus (Fierce Lizard) - A large relative from Cretaceous Canada. Figure by Wild Safari


Albertosaurus (Alberta Lizard) - A large relative from Cretaceous Canada. Figure by X-Plus. Used to rival T Rex in popularity in the early days, but has since gone out of favor.


Alioramus ( Different Branch) - A large relative from Cretaceous Mongolia. Figure by CollectA.


Lythronax (Gore King) - A large relative from Cretaceous North America. Figure by CollectA


Daspletosaurus ( Frightful Lizard) - A large relative from Cretaceous Canada and North America. Figure by CollectA


Zhuchengtyrannus (Zhucheng Tyrant) - A large relative from Cretaceous China. Figure by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S


Tarbosaurus (Terrifying Lizard) - A large relative from Cretaceous Mongolia. Figure by Favorite Co., Museum exclusive. The most famous Asian Tyrannosaur.


Tyrannosaurus Rex (Tyrant Lizard) - The one of the largest and  most famous of them all! Figure by Faunacast.


There you have it, the family of tyrannosaur in technicolor 
Let's have a family portrait


Now, just the feathered ones


Bonus: A look at Mr. T
Tyrannosaurus rex through the years, a few of his many looks.



With some of his favorite foods


A look at his life stages and eventual death. All figures by CollectA, I really love the set. Although officially called hunting T rex, I think it looks like a good representation of a teenage one.
The nest is improvised, it's one that Kayakasaurus made, good one to use as a generic one.

Cheers, hope you enjoyed the show!

[Halichoeres]

It has been a while, Boki! Tyrannosaurs are hard to avoid. Here are a few of mine:


Tyrannosaurus Battat
Tyrannosaurus Safari
Tarbosaurus Favorite
Bistahieversor Favorite
Daspletosaurus CollectA
Zhuchengtyrannus Favorite
Lythronax CollectA
Gorgosaurus Golden Link


Proceratosaurus PNSO


Guanlong Favorite


Stokesosaurus Simba
Obviously the most accurate one here 

[Lanthanotus]

Nice thread and a fine assortment of photos of tyrannosaur history, Boki.

@ Halichoeres: May I ask what kind of version of Gorgan that is, shown in your first image?

[Halichoeres]

@ Halichoeres: May I ask what kind of version of Gorgan that is, shown in your first image?

It's the only one that I know of that wasn't part of the Vivid toy line. It's a cup topper made by Golden Link for the theatrical release of the US version of the movie, if I remember correctly:

There were also two Pachycephalosaurus figures. I think all three were nicer-looking than the toys that Vivid made.

[Lanthanotus]

Ah, thanks very much Halichoeres.

[Bokisaurus]

It has been a while, Boki! Tyrannosaurs are hard to avoid. Here are a few of mine:


Stokesosaurus Simba
Obviously the most accurate one here 

Yes, it has been too long! You got some nice figures, many I don't have.
Haha, I did not know that a figure of Stokesaurus existed! And it is, like you said the most accurate of them all! 
Thanks for sharing your collection.

[RobinGoodfellow]

Here some of mine:

Favorite Tarbosaurus Museum Exclusive


Kanna Tarbosaurus (feathered and not)



Collecta Tarbosaurus


Favorite Expo Exclusive Yutyrannus


Vivid Gorgosaurus


Safari Guanlong


Favorite 2012 Dino Kingdom Tyrannosaurus


Master Fossil Tyrannosaurus (Head)


Colorata Feathered Tyrannosaurus


PNSO "Big" Tyrannosaurus


and PNSO "Wilson"


from Jurassic World


Favorite Desktop


Happy Meal from Favorite


Plus a Flickr Album full of T Rex (46 pictures) from many brands... enjoy:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130140542@N03/albums/72157664175480761/with/31308207903/

[Bokisaurus]

Amazing collection, cool to see different Tarbosaurus figures, as well as Yu

[eion129]

Wooow, all these dinosaur figures are great. It is amazing that you can make them so beautiful.

[Shonisaurus]

The tyrannosaurus rex and all its family are the kings of the terópodos and of the dinosaurs in general with difference. Magnificent photographs.

[Halichoeres]

Safari's Qianzhousaurus

[Shonisaurus]

Qianzhousaurus from Safari although it differs from the prototype is without a doubt a very well finished figure. It is one of the tyrannosauroids from Safari that I like the most. We now need a new Safari version of the albertosaurus and gorgosaurus discontinued today.

[frank08]

It has been a while, Boki! Tyrannosaurs are hard to avoid. Here are a few of mine:


Tyrannosaurus Battat
Tyrannosaurus Safari
Tarbosaurus Favorite
Bistahieversor Favorite
Daspletosaurus CollectA
Zhuchengtyrannus Favorite
Lythronax CollectA
Gorgosaurus Golden Link

Those are some nice Tyrannosaurs, I like the scale. Most of my Tyrannosaurs are T. Rex (too bad), but I'm working on more diversity in my Tyrannosauridae collection.

[frank08]

I have the Terra Battat Tyrannosaurus. What scale do you think it is. 1:40? 1:30?

[Halichoeres]

I have the Terra Battat Tyrannosaurus. What scale do you think it is. 1:40? 1:30?

@frank08 it's about 1:40 for a large specimen; it could be 1:35 for a more moderate sized individual.

[frank08]

Okay, so I'm going to say 1:40. Now which other tyrannosaur figures could go with that scale? I'm also open to 1:30s and 1:35s because that can apply to the Battat rex to.

[Halichoeres]

Okay, so I'm going to say 1:40. Now which other tyrannosaur figures could go with that scale? I'm also open to 1:30s and 1:35s because that can apply to the Battat rex to.

All of the figures in the photo you quoted above are between 1:35 and 1:40, except the Zhuchengtyrannus, which is more like 1:50.

[frank08]

That's some good scale. But as much as I would make a diorama to showcase tyrannosaur evolution, but I need to make my cases using place and time.

[frank08]

Okay, so I'm going to say 1:40. Now which other tyrannosaur figures could go with that scale? I'm also open to 1:30s and 1:35s because that can apply to the Battat rex to.

All of the figures in the photo you quoted above are between 1:35 and 1:40, except the Zhuchengtyrannus, which is more like 1:50.

Is the Golden Link "Gorgosaurus" a Nanuqsaurus? If it were a Nanuqsaurus then would it be within that scale? If so, then where would there be a nice Gorgosaurus? Do you know of any Alectrosaurus figures or a Suskityrannus? Also what scale is the Toyway Tyrannosaurus? Also do you know of any smaller Tyrannosaurs that could be between 1:30 and 1:40 (maybe Safari's toob Dilong?). Sorry for all the questions, I just want to have a greater understanding of my figures so I thought I could ask some people who have a greater understanding of them.

[Halichoeres]

Okay, so I'm going to say 1:40. Now which other tyrannosaur figures could go with that scale? I'm also open to 1:30s and 1:35s because that can apply to the Battat rex to.

All of the figures in the photo you quoted above are between 1:35 and 1:40, except the Zhuchengtyrannus, which is more like 1:50.

Is the Golden Link "Gorgosaurus" a Nanuqsaurus? If it were a Nanuqsaurus then would it be within that scale? If so, then where would there be a nice Gorgosaurus? Do you know of any Alectrosaurus figures or a Suskityrannus? Also what scale is the Toyway Tyrannosaurus? Also do you know of any smaller Tyrannosaurs that could be between 1:30 and 1:40 (maybe Safari's toob Dilong?). Sorry for all the questions, I just want to have a greater understanding of my figures so I thought I could ask some people who have a greater understanding of them.

I think in the movie (which I haven't seen) it was referred to as Gorgosaurus, but given the location it might make more sense as a Nanuqsaurus, so that's what it stands in for in my collection. I don't know the scale of the Toyway Tyrannosaurus, I never liked it so I never bought it. The Papo Gorgosaurus is reasonably good; it's the one Gorgosaurus in my collection, and it's about 1:40, too. Aside from the forthcoming Beasts of the Mesozoic versions, I am not aware of any Alectrosaurus or Suskityrannus figures. Safari's Toob Dilong is somewhere between 1:20 and 1:25. However, CollectA's Xiongguanlong is about 1:30, maybe that would be useful?

Whew! Did I miss anything?