By: Jessica Sun

We all know that a Tyrannosaurus rex has a significant size. What if it was bigger than we thought?
New found research says that it might have been twenty-five percent longer and seventy percent heavier than we thought. A study using computer modeling showed that the largest T.Rex that existed could be way bigger than the current known largest specimen, possibly, measuring fifteen meters and weighing 15 tonnes.

Instead of using fossils, scientists use computer modeling to assess the population of T.rex’s. The model is formed on examples of live alligators, for their big size, and close kinship with dinosaurs.

Dr. Jordan Mallon who works at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa helped on the project.

“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. It’s fun to think about a fifteen tonne T. rex, but the implications are also interesting from a biomechanical or ecological perspective,” Jordan says.

Dr. David Hone of Queen Mary University of Lodon said that it could affect the research of all dinosaurs.

“It’s important to stress that this isn’t really about T. rex, which is the basis of our study, but this issue would apply to all dinosaurs, and lots of other fossil species. Some isolated bones and pieces certainly hint at still larger individuals than for which we currently have skeletons,” he says.

Image Credit by Mike Bird