By: Ivan Wang

We all know that T-Rexes were massive dinosaurs, with adults averaging about 5 to 7 tonnes, but they could have been bigger than paleontologists could’ve imagined. According to new research, they could have been 70% percent heavier and 25% longer than what we thought. If this is true, then T-Rexes could’ve been 15 tonnes and measured 15 meters. For the comparison the Hollywood Sign is 15 meters tall and a giraffe weighs around 2.1 tons.

Instead of using fossils as the data and studying them, this project uses computer modeling. They give the computer things like population size, growth rate, life span, along with how incomplete some fossils are. This program is based on alligators because they are closely related to T-Rexes and are large. The findings of the computer program suggest that there are much larger dinosaur fossils out there.

Dr.Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature, located in Ottawa, was one of the people who worked on this project. He says that, ”Our study suggests that, for big fossil animals like the T. rex, we really have no idea from the fossil record about the absolute sizes they might have reached.”.

Dr.David Hone of Queen Mary University of London said it could change the field of dinosaur research, because if this study is proven, it wouldn’t only affect the research of T-Rexes, but the research of all dinosaurs.

However, it has in fact not been proven yet, so while it is thrilling to think that a prehistoric as tall as the Hollywood Sign existed, it has not been confirmed.

Sources Used:https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cxw21gejr9jo