Final answer:
True, T. Rex did live closer to today than to the time when Stegosaurus was alive, with about a 159 million-year gap from the earliest dinosaurs to the T. rex, and only about 66 million years from T. rex to us.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement 'T. rex lived closer to today than to a time when Stegosaurus was still alive is true. The Tyrannosaurus rex evolved approximately 70.6 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period, which is significantly after the first dinosaurs evolved about 230 million years ago. That means there was about a 159 million-year gap between the first dinosaurs and the T. rex. In contrast, we are only about 66 million years removed from the time of the T. rex, which is much less time than the gap between the T. rex and its earliest dinosaur ancestors. Additionally, this illustrates the vast span of time that dinosaurs were the dominant forms of terrestrial vertebrates on Earth.