image: An Older and Exceptionally Large Adult Specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex view more
Credit: Amanda Kelley
Paleontologists have discovered and characterized the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, making it the biggest terrestrial carnivore currently known to science. The details are described in The Anatomical Record.
The skeleton was actually discovered in 1991 in Saskatchewan, Canada, but the extremely hard matrix surrounding the bones, in combination with the size of the specimen, made it especially difficult and time-consuming to remove, assemble, and study.
Bone analyses revealed that this particular T. rex lived an unusually long, yet violent, life. Its body mass was estimated to be approximately 8,870 kgs. The largest body mass of a T. rex prior to this discovery was 8,460 kg. The specimen also has an estimated weight more than 40 percent greater than the next largest known dinosaur taxon.
The discovery suggests that different types of dinosaurs may have grown to significantly greater sizes than currently known specimens indicate.
"This T. rex lived longer than any other yet discovered. Its skeleton is riddled with injuries that attest to the many battles fought over its lifetime," said lead author Dr. W. Scott Persons, IV, of the University of Alberta, in Canada.
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Twitter handle: @WScottPersons
Journal
The Anatomical Record