在60年代中期,中國古生物學家在中國新疆吐魯番盆地的蘇巴什層(晚白堊紀)發現了一個小型獸腳類化石,包含一些牙齒與大型骨盆的一部分[23]。在1977年,董枝明將這個標本命名為火焰山鄯善龍(Shanshanosaurus huoyanshanensis)[24]。在1998年,葛瑞格利·保羅(Gregory S. Paul)鑑定鄯善龍的化石,將它歸類於暴龍科的後彎齒龍,該屬現已廢止[25]。後來,董枝明與柯爾重新鑑定這些化石,認為它是一個大型暴龍科的幼年體[26][27]。更多的暴龍科牙齒與化石在中國出土,其中數種已建立名稱。在1958年,楊鍾健命名了破碎金剛口龍,後來在1992年被董枝明認為是個疑名;後來湯瑪斯·霍爾茲(Thomas R. Holtz Jr.)認為牠們是特暴龍的一個次異名[3]。除了金剛口龍以外,還有蘭平特暴龍(T. lanpingensis)、欒川特暴龍(T. luanchuanensis)、吐魯番特暴龍(T. turpanensis),皆為勇士特暴龍。
一個在1948年發現的顱骨,一度被歸類於蛇髮女怪龍的G. lancinator,因為具有顱腔,有助於科學家了解特暴龍的腦部結構。在1965年,馬列夫製作了一個石膏顱腔模型,並做了初步的腦部形狀檢查[30]。在2005年,謝爾蓋·薩伐黎耶夫(Sergei V. Saveliev)製作了一個聚氨酯顱腔模型,並做了更詳細的腦部結構與功能研究[31]。
特暴龍出現在BBC的2005年電視節目《恐龍兇面目》(The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs)第二集,以及《與恐龍共舞》(Walking with Dinosaurs)的特別節目《鐮刀龍探秘》(The Giant Claw)。片中一隻特暴龍與一處水池邊的鐮刀龍發生短暫爭鬥,不久便受鐮刀龍攻擊隨後悻悻然離去。
特暴龍也出現在韓國EBS製作的紀錄片《最強王者:特暴龍》(Koreanosaurus,又譯Tarbosaurus The Mightiest Ever),以及2012年的電影《恐龍王》(Speckles The Tarbosaurus,又譯The Dino King)和續集《恐龍王:恐龍父子大冒險》(Dino King 3D: Journey to Fire Mountain)
(英文)Holtz, Thomas R. Tyrannosauroidea. David B. Weishampel; Peter Dodson; & Osmólska, Halska (eds.) (編). The Dinosauria Second Edition. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2004: 111–136. ISBN 0-520-24209-2. 引文格式1維護:冗餘文本 (link)
Holtz, Thomas R. Tyrannosauroidea. Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; & Osmólska, Halszka (eds.) (編). The Dinosauria Second. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2004: 124. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
(英文)Carpenter, Ken. Tyrannosaurids (Dinosauria) of Asia and North America. Mateer, Niall J.; & Chen Peiji (eds.) (編). Aspects of Nonmarine Cretaceous Geology. Beijing: China Ocean Press. 1992: 250–268. (原始內容存檔於2007-09-27).
(俄文)Maleev, Evgeny A. Gigantic carnosaurs of the family Tyrannosauridae. The Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition Transactions. 1974, 1: 132–191.
(俄文)Barsbold, Rinchen. Carnivorous dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. The Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition Transactions. 1983, 19: 5–119.
(英文)Olshevsky, George; & Ford, Tracy L. The origin and evolution of the tyrannosaurids, part 1. Dinosaur Frontline. 1995, 9: 92–119. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(英文)Xu X.; Norell, Mark A.; Kuang Xuewen; Wang Xiaolin;, Zhao Qi; & Jia Chengkai. Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids. Nature. 2004, 431 (7009): 680–684. doi:10.1038/nature02855. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(日語)Watabe, Masato; & Suzuki, Shigeru. Cretaceous fossil localities and a list of fossils collected by the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences and Mongolian Paleontological Center Joint Paleontological Expedition (JMJPE) from 1993 through 1998. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin. 2000, 1: 99–108. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(英文)Currie, Philip J. Nomadic Expeditions, Inc., report of fieldwork in Mongolia, September 2000.. Alberta Palaeontological Society, Fifth Annual Symposium, Abstract Volume.. Calgary: Mount Royal College. 2001: 12–16.
(英文)Currie, Philip J. Report on fieldwork in Mongolia, September 2001.. Alberta Palaeontological Society, Sixth Annual Symposium, "Fossils 2002," Abstract Volume.. Calgary: Mount Royal College. 2002: 8–12.
(英文)Currie, Philip J.; & 董枝明. New information on Shanshanosaurus huoyanshanensis, a juvenile tyrannosaurid (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 2001, 38 (12): 1729–1737. doi:10.1139/cjes-38-12-1729. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(英文)Currie, P.J. (2003). Allometric growth in tyrannosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and Asia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40:651-655.
(俄文)Kurzanov, Sergei M. A new Late Cretaceous carnosaur from Nogon−Tsav, Mongolia. The Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition Transactions. 1976, 3: 93–104.
(俄文)Saveliev, Sergei V.; & Alifanov, Vladimir R. A new study of the brain of the predatory dinosaur Tarbosaurus bataar (Theropoda, Tyrannosauridae). Paleontological Journal. 2005, 41 (3): 281–289. doi:10.1134/S0031030107030070. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(英文)Rothschild, B., Tanke, D. H., and Ford, T. L., 2001, Theropod stress fractures and tendon avulsions as a clue to activity: In: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and Carpenter, K., Indiana University Press, p. 331-336.
(英文)Gradstein, Felix M.; Ogg, James G.; & Smith, Alan G. A Geologic Time Scale 2004. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2005: 500pp. ISBN 978-0521781428. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(英文)Sulliban, R.M. (2006). "A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia)." Pp. 347-366 in Lucas, S.G. and Sullivan, R.M. (eds.), Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 3.
(英文)Shen Y.B.; & Mateer, Niall J. An outline of the Cretaceous System in northern Xinjiang, western China. Mateer, Niall J.; & Chen Peiji (eds.) (編). Aspects of Nonmarine Cretaceous Geology. 北京: 海洋出版社. 1992: 49–77. 引文使用過時參數coauthors (幫助)
(俄文)Efimov, Mikhail B. Revision of the fossil crocodiles of Mongolia.. The Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition Transactions. 1983, 24: 76–95.