![]() ![]() This suggests that the burlier and double chisel-toothed form found in the older layers was one species that gave rise to another. “Rather than compensate for the greater risks and strains of growing big, the gracile Tyrannosaurus has a leaner frame that may have helped it maintain athletic performance even at large size.”įinally, the researchers divided all the Tyrannosaurus specimens up based on time.Ī few patterns emerged: no gracile Tyrannosaurus skeletons were known from older, lower rocks layers, and neither were specimens with just one chisel-like tooth set all the gracile specimens were from a younger point in time and also had a single set of chisel-like teeth. “Instead of adapting their bodies to deal with the greater physical constraints, it’s as though the animals were adapting to deal with greater ecological constraints,” Professor Persons said. Tyrannosaurus is the biggest of the tyrannosaurids, so you’d think it would be the most robust.”Īs animals get bigger, their bones have to support more weight and endure the forces imposed by their heavy bodies while moving.īut, big heavy animals tend to be slower, making it harder to chase and capture prey. “For about half the specimens, the proportions are far more gracile than what you would expect for a tyrannosaurid or other carnivorous dinosaur of that size,” Professor Persons said. When the paleontologists went on to compare the skeletal proportions of Tyrannosaurus with those of its closest relatives (other two-fingered tyrannosaurids like Albertosaurus, Daspletosaurus and Tarbosaurus), the Tyrannosaurus data still came out as unusually variable. Sure enough, the Allosaurus data were far less variable, indicating the differences in heft observed in Tyrannosaurus were beyond what should be expected in just one species. Unlike the Tyrannosaurus data, which came from fossil sites scattered across the continent, the 14 Allosaurus fragilis skeletons all came from a single spot: the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in Utah.īeing from one spot at one point in time, the Allosaurus skeletons are assumed to be one species. They compared the variability of the data to that of another large carnivorous dinosaur, Allosaurus fragilis. Jay Van Raalte from the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at the College of Charleston, analyzed the bones and dental remains of 37 Tyrannosaurus specimens. In the new research, Professor Persons and his two colleagues, U.S. Maybe that’s because the species name is short and sweet maybe it’s because the full name is so evocative and just plain fun to say.” “We all know the full name, genus and species. “Normally, it’s a dinosaur’s genus name that everybody knows: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor. The rex identifies a species within that genus.” “ Tyrannosaurus is the name of the genus. “The name Tyrannosaurus rex, has two parts,” said Professor Scott Persons, a paleontologist in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences at the College of Charleston. rex for short, is the only recognized species of the dinosaur genus Tyrannosaurus to date. Image credit: Scott Robert Anselmo / CC BY-SA 3.0. Tyrannosaurus rex holotype specimen at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, the United States. ![]()
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