Nearly Tyrannosaurus, 1906

«Fighting Dryptosaurs. Though much smaller in size, these creatures doubtless closely resembled Tyrannosaurus rex in appearance and habits» Frontispiece, Scientific American, February 3, 1906.

This picture accompanied an article on «carnivorous dinosaurs of the age of reptiles» inside, and was originally painted by Charles Knight (I will post much more on this image in a few days). The reason was the recent discovery of the über-carnivore Tyrannosaurus rex in Montana, one year before, but illustrations or photographs of the new find obviously hadn’t reached the world yet, so the magazine had to make to with a re-cycled painting.

This is a re-post from my Past Worlds Blog. Soon more about Knight’s Dryptosaurus.