Tyrannosaurus Rex Bigger, Hungrier Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

[Melody Stacker]

Tyrannosaurus Rex Bigger, Hungrier Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

Dean Praetorius 
Posted: 10/13/11 06:41 PM ET



A visitor looks at a the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex at the all-new 14,000 square foot Dinosaur Hall permanent exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles July 7, 2011 during a press preview.

The Tyrannosaurus rex, one of history's most fearsome predators, just got a bit more monstrous.

A new study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, has shown that the already fabled carnivorous dinosaur was actually 30 percent bigger than scientists previously thought. The increase in estimated size of the T. rex comes from new analysis of five different skeletons, including the Chicago Field Museum's "Sue," which, according to Reuters, is the largest and most complete skeleton in known existence.

The study, carried out by scientists at The Royal Veterinary College and The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, used three-dimensionally scanned models of four fully grown T. Rex skeletons and one juvenile to create state of the art models of the creatures. Using this new model, researchers estimated that Sue weighed 9,500 kg (about 20,944 lbs), 30 percent more than expected.

According to The Telegraph, the Field Museum's Dr. Peter Makovicky said, "Previous methods for calculating mass relied on scale models, which can magnify even minor errors, or on extrapolations from living animals with very different body plans from dinosaurs."

The findings were substantial, but a bit varied. Oddly enough, according to Reuters, the juvenile skeleton actually weighed less than expected, suggesting that the dinosaurs grew twice as fast between 10 and 15 years of age than previous studies had indicated. That means they would have been eating 11 to 15 kg of meat per day.

"Just think how much meat that is," John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College in London told Reuters. "That's a hell of a lot of cheeseburgers ... it's a whole lot of duck-billed dinosaurs they needed to be chowing down on."

The study notes that there are some potential inaccuracies, including subjectivity and incomplete skeletons, but at the very least it helps to explain the T. rex's anatomy, namely its short arms, thick stomach, and strong hind legs:

    Regardless, T. rex probably had hip and thigh muscles relatively larger than any extant animal's. Overall, the limb “antigravity” muscles may have been as large as or even larger than those of ratite birds, which themselves have the most muscular limbs of any living animal.

It's hard to imagine the Tyrannosaurus rex eating even more than it was believed to, but the find might not come as a shock to everyone. Last year, a different study suggested that the T. rex actually cannibalized its own kind, showing that it would potentially eat anything it could.

[Britany Lincicum]

T. rex bigger than thought, and very hungry


LONDON (Reuters) - Tyrannosaurus rex grew faster and weighed more than previously thought, suggesting the fearsome predator would have been a ravenous teen-ager, researchers said Wednesday.

Using three-dimensional laser scans and computer modeling, British and U.S. scientists "weighed" five T. rex specimens, including the Chicago Field Museum's "Sue," the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton known.

They concluded that Sue, who roamed the Great Plains of North America 67 million years ago, would have tipped the scales at more than 9 tons, or some 30 percent more than expected.

Intriguingly, the smallest and youngest specimen weighed less than thought, shedding new light on the animals' biology and indicating that T. rex grew more than twice as fast between 10 and 15 years of age as suggested in a study five years ago.

"At their fastest, in their teenage years, they were putting on 11 pounds or 5 kilograms a day," John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College in London told Reuters.

"Just think how much meat that is. That's a hell of a lot of cheeseburgers ... it's a whole lot of duck-billed dinosaurs they needed to be chowing down on."

Hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs were common plant-eaters that lived alongside T. rex, making them an obvious meal for the giant meat-eaters.

A huge appetite means T. rex would have needed extensive territory and they were probably relatively rare. Their rapid teenage growth spurt also suggests they must have had a high metabolic rate, fuelling the idea they were warm-blooded.

A large body mass would have come at the expense of agility and the lower-leg muscles of T. rex were not as proportionately large as those of modern birds, indicating a top speed of about 10-25 miles per hour. "It's not super-fast but they were no slouches," Hutchinson said.

The latest research, published online in the journal PLoS ONE, adds to the body of evidence that has made T. rex among the most intensively studied of all dinosaurs.

The researchers, led by Hutchinson and Peter Makovicky of the Field Museum, used scans of skeletons to build digital models and then added flesh using the structure of soft tissues in birds and crocodiles as a guide.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Matthew Jones)

http://news.yahoo.com/t-rex-bigger-thought-very-hungry-210235256.html

[Britany Lincicum]

Tyrannosaurus Rex was bigger than thought
It may be the most fearsome beast ever to have roamed the Earth, but new research suggests Tyrannosaurus Rex may have been even bigger than previously thought.




Tyrannosaurus Rex may have been even bigger than previously thought
A Tyrannosaurus Rex model in the natural history Museum in London  Photo: Alamy
Nick Collins

By Nick Collins, Science Correspondent

7:00AM BST 13 Oct 2011

Three dimensional laser scans of T. Rex skeletons revealed that the giant dinosaur was 30 per cent heavier than scientists had estimated.

Comparisons of four adult skeletons with a juvenile specimen also showed that the species must have grown twice as fast as had been thought, turning 10kg hatchlings into seven to nine tonne adults by the age of 16 or 17.

Prof John R. Hutchinson of The Royal Veterinary College (RVC), who led the study, said previous estimates of T. Rex size had ranged from five to seven tonnes.

He said: "Our new study, using accurate and detailed three-dimensional laser scans of real skeletons, puts one of the specimens we measured at upwards of nine tonnes."

The research, carried out by RVC scientists with colleagues from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, was published in the PLoS ONE journal.
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Dr Peter Makovicky of the Field Museum said: "Previous methods for calculating mass relied on scale models, which can magnify even minor errors, or on extrapolations from living animals with very different body plans from dinosaurs.

"We overcame such problems by using the actual skeletons as a starting point for our study."

Scanning the 40ft skeletons with lasers produced measurements that are accurate to within half an inch, the researchers said.

Cross-section models of the body were then produced based on the ratio of bones to soft tissue in birds and crocodiles.

After accounting for empty spaces, such as the mouth and the lungs, they were then able to calculate a precise estimate of the dinosaur's weight.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8822481/Tyrannosaurus-Rex-was-bigger-than-thought.html

[Britany Lincicum]

Glad they are gone!