By: Emma Xing

For a long time, people knew the Tyrannosaurus rex was humongous. However, new research indicates that the T–rex might be bigger than scientists thought. The new research states that the Tyrannosaurus rex might have been 70% heavier and 25% longer than it was previously thought.

A study used computer modeling to find that the largest T–rex to exist could have been much bigger than the T–rex that was thought to be the largest. It is estimated it could’ve weighed 15 tons and measured 15 meters.

The new study, which doesn’t use fossils, considered things like population size, growth rate, life span, and the incompleteness of fossil records. The model is based on examples of living alligators, which was chosen because of their size and genetic relationship to dinosaurs.

Dr. Jordan Mallen of the Canadian Museum of Ottawa, who worked on this project, said, “Our study suggests that, for big fossil animals like T. rex, we really have no idea from the fossil record about the absolute sizes they might have reached.”

“This could also affect research about all dinos,” Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University of London said.
Dr. David Hone also stated that this new research doesn’t only apply to the T–rex but to all dinosaurs, plus any other fossil species. It’s important to note that there could be many other species that are bigger than what scientists thought.