Key takeaways about how big the Tyrannosaurus rex?
- A Tyrannosaurus rex would have been about 40 feet long and 13 feet high.
- We know how big the letter T is. rex This is due to fossils already discovered by researchers. From these fossils, researchers can estimate the average size T. rexbut it is possible that the dinosaur could have been even larger.
- T. rex was not the largest theropod predator. Spinosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, And Giganotosaurus he was probably defeated.
Tyrannosaurus rex undoubtedly one of the most famous dinosaurs. However, whether it was the largest of the carnivorous theropods remains questionable and is often the subject of intense debate.
According to the fossil record, T. rex reaching a length of up to about 40 feet (12 or 13 meters), a height of about 13 feet (four meters) and weighing as much as 7 tons. Although research shows that this may only scratch the surface of what is truly the largest T. rex which tyrannized the Late Cretaceous period.
Researchers estimate that over a period of approximately 2.4 million years, T. rex walked the earth during Late CretaceousThere were more than 2 billion of these dinosaurs. They estimate that at any given time there are about 20,000 adults T. rex were alive.
These are staggering numbers. It also provides a clear indication that the fossil record of this dinosaur is thin, with only 30 to 40 specimens known.
“When you consider the fact that there were millions, perhaps even billions T. rex specimens that have ever existed are just a drop in the bucket,” says Jordan Mallon, a paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Read more: What the Tyrannosaurus Rex Skull Tells Us About Its Intelligence
How big was T. rex and how do we know
“The exact number and what qualifies as a ‘good’ specimen depends on who you ask,” Mallon says.
In 2024, Mallon and David Hone at Queen Mary University of London.published an article in which he proposed What T. rex could well have reached even larger sizes, up to 70 percent heavier than fossil evidence indicates. A study based on computer modeling found that T. rex At its final size, it could weigh up to 15 tons and reach a length of about 50 feet (about 15 meters).
“We're only talking about one person,” he says. “You know, it's like the most extreme T. rex“
He said the hypothesis opens up many questions and possibilities, such as whether a dinosaur this size would even be able to support its own weight, and the environmental consequences that would cause.
“T. rex probably ate mostly duck-billed dinosaurs and horned dinosaurs that lived in its habitat,” says Mallon. T. rex were able to destroy sauropods.”
However, this study, which Mallon describes as a thought experiment, is difficult to test against current fossil evidence. Is it really gigantic? T. rex whether fossils of this kind have ever been found remains to be seen.
“The probability that the greatest T. rexor even the 100 largest T. rex that ever lived are preserved in the fossil record, and the likelihood of us finding them is very, very low,” says Mallon.
However, this leaves open the intriguing prospect that the already gigantic T. rex who haunted the big screen in Jurassic Park may have reached even more epic proportions during his time on Earth.
Was T. rex Biggest dinosaur?
Even considering the potential of an individual T. rex growing to about 50 feet (15 meters) in length, it still wouldn't lay claim to being the largest dinosaur. Tall sauropods, of course, reached much greater height and length than any of the carnivorous theropods.
Dreadnoughtfor example, it probably reached lengths of up to about 85 feet (26 meters) and weighed up to 65 tons.
Several other theropods grew to large sizes. Competing with T. rex Other large dinosaurs claim the title of largest theropod, such as Spinosaurus, PrisonodontosaurusAnd Giganotosaurus.
Spinosaurus generally considered the largest theropod, it is estimated to have weighed around 7.4 tons and reached lengths of up to 45 feet.14 meters). Prisonodontosaurus, meanwhile, it was probably about the same size as T. rex but had a lighter design.
Dinosaur fossil scarcity
However, the problem, Mallon said, is the lack of fossil specimens and complete specimens of many species, including other large theropods. These few dozen T. rex The specimens represent only a small fraction of the actual number that existed, but compared to other dinosaur fossil finds, it's actually a “pretty good” collection, he adds.
“We don't really know what happens at the end of these [size] distribution,” he says. “And the poorer the fossil record, the harder it is to say [their largest size]”
This is one reason he avoids the oft-repeated debate about which theropod is the largest. “It's really hard to understand,” he says.
It is important to note that the conclusions from his 2024 paper that T. rex could reach even larger sizes than the fossil record suggests, and were not limited to this meat-eater.
“This applies to Spinosaurusand other large meat-eaters that are known from even fewer fossils, he says. “The same argument applies to every fossil you can think of.”
Which animal's DNA is closest to T. rex
In 2008, researchers published a paper that examined 68-million-year-old proteins found in collagen extracted from fossilized rock. T. rex femur. These results, which are still often cited, seem to indicate that T. rex most closely related to the much less fearsome modern chicken and ostrich than to other animals such as alligators.
At the time, the headlines said the humble chicken was a mighty one. T. rexclosest living relative. However, this is not entirely true, since all birds, in fact, modern dinosaurs. The authors of the article sought to establish T. rexplace in the larger web of life.
“The fact is that among all living animals T. rex most closely related to birds because birds are descendants of dinosaurs,” says Mallon, who was not involved in the paper. “There is no particular bird that is more closely related to T. rex than other birds.”
At this stage, he said, scientists have accumulated a wide range of evidence based on the fossil record, biochemical analyzes and other materials that show that modern birds are descendants of dinosaurs. “The evidence continues to grow and at this stage it is undeniable.”
Read more: The origin story of Tyrannosaurus rex may not have started in North America
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