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Tyrannosaurus Rex

October 14, 2011 by · Comments Off on Tyrannosaurus Rex 

Tyrannosaurus RexTyrannosaurus Rex, The tyrant lizard T. rex may have been more robust than previously thought, according to the new weight measurements show at least one person weighing more than 9 tons. The researchers also found that giant squarely in the pound as if they were out of fashion.

“We estimate that grew as fast as 3950 pounds (1790 kilograms) per year during the adolescent period of growth, which is more than double the previous estimate,” said researcher John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College London, said in a statement .

Previous attempts to weigh the Tyrannosaurus rex was prone to errors, because they were not based on real skeletons dead dinosaurs, the researchers said, adding that these errors can be explained by the renewed influence of T. rex.

“Previous methods to calculate the mass was based on scale models, which can be extended to minor errors, or on extrapolations of live animals with very different body plans of the dinosaurs,” said researcher Peter Makovicky of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. “We have overcome these problems by using real skeletons as a starting point for our study.”

In the new study, researchers scanned five skeletons mounted T. Head to create digital 3-D models, these laser scanners are accurate to less than half an inch of skeletons that are up to 40 feet long, the researchers said. [View images of T. rex model]

The exploration was not as simple as it sounds. The researchers called the detectives of the Chicago Police Department, who uses his forensic scanners to examine the body of what is considered the largest and most complete T. rex named Sue after its discoverer, Sue Hendrickson paleontologist.

And since Sue’s skull was so big – it measures about 3.3 feet (1 m) wide at the rear and 5 feet (1.5 m) long – that does not fit the traditional medical scanners. Solution? The team brought the ball to the Ford Motor Company, which has a separate facility housing the engines of a scanner, etc..

Once the skeletons were analyzed, the researchers superimposed digital skin digital models in order to get a body volume. The team also modeled the separate parts of the body including head, neck, torso, legs and tail, to make this digital skin and accurate packaging.

The mass was calculated taking into account the gaps, such as the lungs and oral cavity.

“For each of five samples, which generate several models that differ in degree of flesh, at the lower end, where the muscle adhered well to the contour of the skeleton, and at the other end would have a very big dinosaur or obese,” Makovicky told LiveScience in a telephone interview.

The results showed T. Rex was heavier than previous estimates, ranging from about 4.5 tons to 6.5 tons, with the skeleton of Sue Field Museum with a filled weight of 9 tons (about 8164 kg). [Gallery: More Beasts of the world]

“We knew it was big, but the increase of 30 percent of its weight was unexpected,” Makovicky said.

T. rex grows

They also used the five samples to check the type of giant dinosaur growth. The young man served as “our bottom end of the spectrum, I could see how body mass changed over time and how different parts of the body that has changed from youth to adults,” Makovicky said.

As for the bulk of a baby T. rex might have been, Makovicky said he chose a somewhat arbitrary value of 11 pounds (5 kg). “We know we can not get much more than that because you get into a wide range of an animal in size when the volume of animals [would require] the shell becomes too thick and can not leave.”

They found most of their growth probably occurred between adolescents of T. rex 10 to 12 and 17 to 18 years, when it reaches maturity T. rex. Although the packaging of thousands of pounds each year, especially in this period of adolescence, it sounds like a lot of new growth rate is similar to calculating the growth rate of other dinosaurs, the researchers said.

“Our new value growth rate actually deletes a previous deficit between estimated growth rate and what is expected of a dinosaur of this size,” Makovicky said.

However, the fast track thunder thighs came at the cost of speed and agility, the team found. It turns out that, as the animal grew also slowed, probably because his torso became more and heavier, while its members grew relatively shorter and lighter. The result changed its center of gravity forward.

“This change varies greatly from the inertial properties, moving forward the mass is changing the pivot point away from the hips, which is the natural hub, so it requires bigger muscles,” said Makovicky LiveScience. “T. rex is quite large, in fact, huge leg muscles, probably the largest leg muscles of any creature that ever lived, but a large amount of muscle in the leg that had to stabilize the animal and not translate into speed. ”

As such, even with such thunder thighs, these dinosaurs must have declined as they grew, with a minor who is relatively faster and more agile than an adult.

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