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- Nadčeleď Tyrannosauroidea zahrnuje skupinu vývojově vyspělých teropodních dinosaurů, z nichž posledním, největším a nejznámějším zástupcem je severoamerický druh Tyrannosaurus rex. Následující přehled zahrnuje podstatné události v dějinách paleontologického výzkumu této skupiny vyhynulých druhohorních dravců. (cs)
- This timeline of tyrannosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the tyrannosaurs, a group of predatory theropod dinosaurs that began as small, long-armed bird-like creatures with elaborate cranial ornamentation but achieved apex predator status during the Late Cretaceous as their arms shrank and body size expanded. Although formally trained scientists did not begin to study tyrannosaur fossils until the mid-19th century, these remains may have been discovered by Native Americans and interpreted through a mythological lens. The Montana Crow tradition about thunder birds with two claws on their feet may have been inspired by isolated tyrannosaurid forelimbs found locally. Other legends possibly inspired by tyrannosaur remains include Cheyenne stories about a mythical creature called the Ahke, and Delaware stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters to have wishes granted. Tyrannosaur remains were among the first dinosaur fossils collected in the United States. The first of these was named Deinodon horridus by Joseph Leidy. However, as this species was based only on teeth the name would fall into disuse. Soon after, Edward Drinker Cope described Laelaps aquilunguis from a partial skeleton in New Jersey. Its discovery heralded the realization that carnivorous dinosaurs were bipeds, unlike the lizardlike megalosaurs sculpted for the Crystal Palace. Laelaps was also among the first dinosaurs to be portrayed artistically as a vigorous, active animal, presaging the Dinosaur Renaissance by decades. Later in the century, Cope's hated rival Othniel Charles Marsh would discover that the name Laelaps had already been given to a parasitic mite, and would rename the dinosaur Dryptosaurus. Early in the 20th century, Tyrannosaurus itself was discovered by Barnum Brown and named by Henry Fairfield Osborn, who would recognize it as a representative of a distinct family of dinosaurs he called the Tyrannosauridae. Tyrannosaur taxonomy would be controversial for many decades afterward. One controversy centered around the use of the name Tyrannosauridae for this family, as the name "Deinodontidae" had already been proposed. The name Tyrannosauridae came out victorious following arguments put forth by Dale Russell in 1970. The other major controversy regarding tyrannosaur taxonomy was the family's evolutionary relationships. Early in the history of paleontology, it was assumed that the large carnivorous dinosaurs were all part of one evolutionary lineage ("carnosaurs"), while the small carnivorous dinosaurs were part of a separate lineage (coelurosaurs). Tyrannosaurid anatomy led some early researchers like Matthew, Brown, and Huene, to cast doubt on the validity of this division. However, the traditional carnosaur-coelurosaur division persisted until the early 1990s, when the application of cladistics to tyrannosaur systematics confirmed the doubts of early workers and found tyrannosaurs to be large-bodied coelurosaurs. Another debate about tyrannosaurs would not be settled until the early 21st century: their diet. Early researchers were so overwhelmed by the massive bulk of Tyrannosaurus that some, like Lawrence Lambe, were skeptical that it was even capable of hunting down live prey and assumed that it lived as a scavenger. This view continued to be advocated into the 1990s by Jack Horner but was shown false by Kenneth Carpenter, who reported the discovery of a partially healed tyrannosaur bite wound on an Edmontosaurus annectens tail vertebra, proving that T. rex at least sometimes pursued living victims. (en)
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