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Cartoon orange Tyrannosaurus rex walking through a jungle
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The Dinosaurs of Ice Age 3

Meet every dinosaur in “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, from Momma the T. rex to Rudy the villain, and find out what each one was really like.

Quick Answer

The dinosaurs in “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” are Tyrannosaurus rex (Momma and her three babies), Baryonyx (Rudy, the giant white villain), Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Guanlong, plus flying pterosaurs. All of them were real animals, but the movie makes many of them much bigger and scarier than they really were.

What Is “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” About?

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” (2009) is the third movie in the Ice Age series. Manny the mammoth and Ellie are about to have a baby, and Sid the sloth feels left out. So when he finds three giant eggs in an icy cave, he decides to raise them as his own family.

The eggs hatch into baby T. rexes, and soon their real mom comes to take them home. She carries Sid with her to a warm, hidden jungle under the ice, where dinosaurs are still alive. Manny, Diego and the herd follow to rescue him, with help from Buck, a wild one-eyed weasel who has spent years hunting a monster dinosaur named Rudy.

Quick Facts

Blue Sky Studios, released July 2009
Momma and her babies are T. rexes
Rudy the villain is a Baryonyx
Real dinosaurs and mammoths missed each other by 65 million years
About 1 hour 34 minutes
Rated PG, good for most kids 5–6+

Every Dinosaur in Ice Age 3, and What It Really Was

Here's each prehistoric animal from the movie, what it does in the story, and what scientists know about the real thing.

Cartoon orange Tyrannosaurus rex walking through a jungle

In the movie: Momma

Tyrannosaurus rex

Meat-eater

🎬 In the movie

A huge, fierce mother T. rex who comes looking for her missing eggs and finds Sid the sloth babysitting them. She carries Sid off to the hidden dinosaur world, slowly warms up to him, and in the end charges in to save the whole herd from Rudy.

🦴 In real life

T. rex really was one of the biggest meat-eaters ever, with a bite strong enough to crush bone. We don't know for sure whether T. rex moms looked after their babies, but other dinosaurs like Maiasaura did guard their nests. Real T. rex babies were probably small and fluffy!

Length
About 40 ft (12 m)
Weight
About 9 tons
Lived
68–66 million years ago
Where
North America
How dinosaur moms laid eggs →

In the movie: Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko

Baby Tyrannosaurus rex

Meat-eater

🎬 In the movie

Sid finds three giant eggs in an icy cave and decides to raise them himself. Out pop three baby T. rexes who think Sid is their mom. They eat everything, scare the other kids at the playground, and the only word they learn is “Momma.”

🦴 In real life

Fossils show T. rex hatchlings were tiny, about the size of a turkey or a small dog, and grew very fast in their teenage years. Scientists think the babies may have been covered in fuzzy, feather-like fluff.

Egg size
Probably about 17 in (43 cm) long
Hatchling
About 3 ft (1 m) long
Grew up in
About 20 years
Covering
Maybe fuzzy fluff
Meet more cute baby dinosaurs →
Baryonyx with long crocodile-like jaws walking through a swampy forest

In the movie: Rudy

Baryonyx

Meat-eater (and fish-eater)

🎬 In the movie

The big villain: a gigantic, ghostly white dinosaur that took Buck the weasel's eye years ago. In the movie Rudy is shown far bigger than Momma, with a long crocodile-like snout full of teeth.

🦴 In real life

Baryonyx was real, but it was much smaller than a T. rex, roughly a quarter of its weight. It had a long, narrow snout like a crocodile and a giant thumb claw. Fish scales were found in its belly, so it loved to eat fish! Nobody knows its true color, so a white Baryonyx is pure movie magic.

Length
About 25–30 ft (7.5–9 m)
Weight
About 2 tons
Lived
About 125 million years ago
Where
Europe (England)
See Baryonyx with other water dinosaurs →
Illustrated Ankylosaurus with a spiky armored back and a club on its tail

In the movie: The armored attacker

Ankylosaurus

Plant-eater

🎬 In the movie

The first dinosaur the herd meets underground. It charges at them with sharp, snapping teeth, and later hides in fear when Rudy shows up.

🦴 In real life

Ankylosaurus was a gentle plant-eater with small, leaf-shaped teeth, not sharp fangs. It was built like a tank, covered in bony armor, and swung a heavy club on the end of its tail to keep predators away.

Length
About 20–26 ft (6–8 m)
Weight
About 5–8 tons
Lived
68–66 million years ago
Where
North America
More plant-eating dinosaurs →
Friendly cartoon long-necked Brachiosaurus standing among tall trees

In the movie: The friendly giant

Brachiosaurus

Plant-eater

🎬 In the movie

A gigantic, calm long-neck. Ellie slides down its neck like a playground slide, and the herd uses its back and tail to escape danger.

🦴 In real life

Brachiosaurus was one of the tallest dinosaurs ever, with front legs longer than its back legs, like a giraffe. It was big, but not as mountain-sized as the movie shows. It munched leaves from the tops of trees.

Length
About 70–85 ft (21–26 m)
Height
About 40 ft (12 m)
Lived
About 154–150 million years ago
Where
North America
Meet more long neck dinosaurs →

In the movie: The pack hunters

Guanlong

Meat-eater

🎬 In the movie

Smaller, quick hunters with spiky quills that go after the herd in packs. They attack while Ellie is having her baby, and Diego fights them off.

🦴 In real life

Guanlong means “crown dragon” because of the thin crest on its snout. It was an early cousin of T. rex, but only about as long as a car. Its close relatives had fuzzy feathers, so Guanlong probably did too.

Length
About 10 ft (3 m)
Weight
About 275 lb (125 kg)
Lived
About 160 million years ago
Where
Asia (China)
Discover feathered dinosaurs →
A group of giant Quetzalcoatlus walking on a fern prairie

In the movie: The flying chasers

Pterosaurs

Flying reptile (not a dinosaur!)

🎬 In the movie

Flocks of winged reptiles swoop after the herd over a canyon, and Buck rides one to rescue Sid. The giant ones are usually identified as Quetzalcoatlus.

🦴 In real life

Pterosaurs lived at the same time as dinosaurs, but they were a separate group of flying reptiles. Quetzalcoatlus was one of the biggest flying animals ever, with wings as wide as a small airplane.

Wingspan
About 33–36 ft (10–11 m)
Standing height
As tall as a giraffe
Lived
About 68 million years ago
Where
North America (Texas)
Is a pterodactyl a dinosaur? →

Momma vs. Rudy: Who Was Really Bigger?

In the movie, Rudy towers over Momma. In real life it was the other way around! A real T. rex was longer and about four times heavier than a real Baryonyx. Here's how the real animals measure up, nose to tail.

Grown-up person
6 ft
Guanlong
10 ft
Ankylosaurus
23 ft
Baryonyx (Rudy)
28 ft
T. rex (Momma)
40 ft
Brachiosaurus
80 ft

Lengths are rounded averages from fossil estimates. Weights shown on wider screens.

Did Dinosaurs Really Live With Mammoths?

No, not even close! The big dinosaurs died out about 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit Earth. Woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths like Sid and saber-toothed cats like Diego lived during the Ice Age, less than a million years ago. The movie solves this with a secret warm world under the ice, which is a fun made-up idea.

The dinosaurs in the movie didn't even all live together. Guanlong and Brachiosaurus lived more than 150 million years ago, Baryonyx about 125 million years ago, and T. rex only near the very end. Look how far apart they are:

GuanlongAbout 160 million years ago
BrachiosaurusAbout 152 million years ago
Baryonyx (Rudy)About 125 million years ago
T. rex, Ankylosaurus, QuetzalcoatlusAbout 67 million years ago
Mammoths, sloths & saber-tooth catsLess than 1 million years ago
170 million years agoToday

🐦 Fun twist: some dinosaurs did live with mammoths. Birds are living dinosaurs, so mammoths saw dinosaurs flying overhead every day! Learn more in Are Birds Dinosaurs? and When Did Dinosaurs Go Extinct?

Is Ice Age 3 OK for Kids? A Quick Parents Guide

👍 What kids love

  • Sid and the babies. Sid trying to be a mom to three hungry baby T. rexes is the funniest part for many kids.
  • Buck the weasel. A wild, brave adventurer who rides a flying reptile and hunts a monster.
  • Lots of dinosaurs. A whole jungle full of them, which is great for dino-mad kids.
  • A sweet message. Family can look different, and nobody in the herd gets left behind.

⚠️ Heads-up for parents

  • Rated PG for mild rude humor and peril.
  • Scary chases. Rudy, the Guanlong pack and a man-eating plant can startle little ones.
  • Buck lost an eye to Rudy. It happens off screen, but he talks about it.
  • Potty jokes and some name-calling aimed at Sid.

🗣️ Dino questions to ask after the movie

  • • Which dinosaur in the movie was a plant-eater?
  • • Was Rudy really bigger than a T. rex? (Nope!)
  • • Could Manny and Momma really have met? Why not?
  • • Which real dinosaur would you most like to see?
  • • How did Sid show the babies he loved them?

Frequently Asked Questions

What dinosaurs are in Ice Age 3?

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” features Tyrannosaurus rex (Momma and her three babies), Baryonyx (Rudy, the villain), Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Guanlong pack hunters. Flying reptiles called pterosaurs, such as Quetzalcoatlus, also chase the herd, but pterosaurs weren't actually dinosaurs.

What kind of dinosaur is Rudy in Ice Age?

Rudy is a Baryonyx, a fish-eating dinosaur with a long crocodile-like snout and a big thumb claw. In the movie he's a giant albino, much bigger than a T. rex. Real Baryonyx was about 25 to 30 feet long and weighed around 2 tons, so it was smaller than a real T. rex.

What kind of dinosaur is Momma in Ice Age 3?

Momma is a Tyrannosaurus rex. Her three babies, Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko, are baby T. rexes that hatch from the eggs Sid finds and adopts.

What are the names of the baby dinosaurs in Ice Age 3?

The three baby T. rexes are named Eggbert, Shelly and Yoko. Sid gives them their names after he finds their eggs in an icy cave.

Did dinosaurs really live with mammoths?

No. The big dinosaurs died out about 66 million years ago, and woolly mammoths appeared less than a million years ago. That's a gap of about 65 million years! The movie gets around this with a made-up hidden world under the ice. The only dinosaurs that really lived with mammoths were birds, because birds are living dinosaurs.

Is Ice Age 3 scary for young kids?

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” is rated PG for mild rude humor and peril. Most kids around 5 or 6 and up enjoy it. Rudy, the Guanlong chase and some loud roaring dinosaur scenes can startle little ones, so watching together helps.

Was Rudy a real dinosaur?

Rudy's species, Baryonyx, was real. Its fossils were found in England in 1983 by a fossil hunter named William Walker, who spotted a huge claw in a clay pit. Rudy himself, with his white skin and giant size, is made up for the movie.

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” is a film by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox. Puffsaurus is not affiliated with the film's makers, and this page uses no images from the movie. The T. rex, Ankylosaurus and Brachiosaurus illustrations are original Puffsaurus artwork. Image credits (via Wikimedia Commons): Baryonyx by Andrey Belov (CC BY 3.0); Quetzalcoatlus by Mark Witton and Darren Naish (CC BY 3.0).

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