The T-Rex: A Reigning Champion beyond Extinction

Guest Writer: Erik Butchart (’26)

When I first began thinking about what to write for this opinion piece, I was overwhelmed with the amount of topics I could choose from. The inauguration of President Trump, global warming, sporting events and many more come to mind. It was at this moment that I realized what I would have to write about: the best dinosaur. The question “which dinosaur is the best?” has little importance to the current events in the world today, which is why this has to be the question I answer. This question is not solely based on which dinosaur is my favorite; if it was, the answer would be easy: the Allosaurus. There is much more to the question than that however: What does it mean to be the “best.” In this circumstance, I think that to be the best dinosaur, the dinosaur has to be significant in media, science, and significant in its time period. To no one’s surprise, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, commonly known as the T-Rex, stands on the top of the list of best dinosaurs when we consider these criteria. 

When looking at the media’s representation of dinosaurs, it is obvious that the T-Rex reigns supreme. An excellent example of this is the depiction of the T-Rex in the popular movie Jurassic Park. The movie grossed 900 million dollars, which was the most of any movie at the time, and was based on the book of the same name by Micheal Crichton. The book itself has sold millions of copies and is still bought today. These two pieces are the most popular dinosaur-related media in the world, and the spotlight is on the T-Rex in both of these instances. Furthermore, when you fall asleep and have a nightmare about dinosaurs, which one is it? For me, nine times out of ten times, it’s going to be the T-Rex. There is no debating that the T-Rex is the media’s “best,” but how does it stack up when looking scientifically? 

Science is where the T-Rex truly shines. Though there are only about 100 fossil records for the T-Rex and only 30 of them are complete or nearly complete, there is still a large amount of data compared to other dinosaurs. Having a plethora of data to analyze allows scientists to better understand the dinosaur they are looking at. There are few other dinosaurs which have more fossil records than the T-Rex, including the Triceratops, the Hadrosaurus, and the Allisorus, which are all fairly popular dinosaurs. This ranking places the T-Rex towards the most important fossil types when it comes to the quantity of fossils. But science is only one part of the process of deciding what the best dinosaur is.

To be considered the best, one has to be able to play at the top of their respective field. Think of LeBron James or Tom Brady. The T-Rex was the LeBron James of the Cretaceous Era. In the Cretaceous Era, the T-Rex stood at the top as the apex predator, feasting on the likes of the Triceratops and Hadrosaurus. The only real competitors of the T-rex were the Triceratops and other T-Rex. It is clear that the T-Rex was one of the most dominant dinosaurs in its respective era. Even when considering other periods of time, there are few dinosaurs that could rival it. 

With all of the information in consideration there is no other verdict that can be reached except that the T-Rex is the best dinosaur. Not only is it most popular throughout the media, it is also vital for understanding the Cretaceous Era with its valuable fossil records, and was the top predator of its time. As such, there is no feasible conclusion other than the fact that the T-Rex is the most influential dinosaur, thus making it the best.

(Featured image source: NBC News / Roger Harris / Getty Images / Science Photo Library)