By: Jasmine Sun

Dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus rex might have grown even larger than we previously thought because only a small fraction of them have ever been discovered.

New research shows astonishing details about the size of the T.Rex—these dinosaurs might have been much larger than believed.

The largest T. rex to ever live might have weighed up to 33,000 pounds. Paleontologists from Canada and the U.K. say that some T. rexes may have reached 49 feet long, 25 percent longer than previously thought. This finding also means there is an even larger increase in weight. The estimated weight of a T. rex increased by about 70 percent, so the heaviest T. Rex to ever live can weigh up to 16.5 tons, making it heavier than an average school bus, which is about 12 tons.

The paleontologist team said that we did not have a sense of the T. Rex’s biggest size until now because it is known from only a small number of fossils. There are about 100 T. Rex fossils in total, and only a few of the fossils are well-preserved.

To reach this conclusion, the paleontologist team first looked at the fossil record, which shows that about 2.5 billion T. Rex once lived on Earth. But only a small fraction—just 32 adult T. Rex fossils—have ever been discovered, giving the paleontologist team only a small amount of information from the fossil record to start with.

This new study shows that our understanding of the size of the Tyrannosaurus rex might have been underestimated. If these dinosaurs are even larger than thought, we will need to research to make a more accurate picture of the T. Rexes.

Image Credit live science