T-Rex Bigger and Hungrier Than Previously Thought 104
gpronger writes "Researchers John Hutchinson (Royal Veterinary College in London) and Peter Makovicky (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago) built digital models of a T-Rex and then added flesh using the structure of soft tissues in birds and crocodiles as a guide. This allowed them to project body mass. By doing this for a number of specimens of different age and size, they could also evaluate growth. At maximum, the adolescents could add 11 pounds in weight in a single day. The adult was found to be 30% heavier than earlier estimates, at more than 9 tons. With this size and appetite, they would need a large range, and therefore also be relatively rare in the ecosystem of the time."
Re:Seems unscientific (Score:5, Informative)
What? Read the paper. They used the real skeletons (5 of them), not birds or crocodiles, as models.
The researchers' website:
http://bit.ly/qlfC2i [bit.ly]
And the paper: (free to all! open access yay!)
http://bit.ly/ruvel3 [bit.ly]
Re:Seems unscientific (Score:4, Informative)
The summary is inaccurate, as always. The actual abstract openly states that there is some subjectivity, and gives a range of 6000-8000 kg, with only one particularly large specimin topping 9 tons.