Tyrannosaurus rex and many of its theropod cousins had large bodies but tiny arms. What gives?
Tyrannosaurus rex was a vicious hunter with the strongest bite of any animal ever to walk on land. The beast prowled the late Cretaceous wilderness more than 66 million years ago, looking for a Triceratops or Edmontosaurus to munch on.
Right now, however, this is just a hypothesis."It's a nice story," said John Hutchinson, a biologist at the University of London's Royal Veterinary College who wasn't involved in the study."But I think, ultimately, we don't really know." "As the animals get bigger, the forelimbs get smaller and the head gets bigger," he continued. Tyrannosaurs, in particular,"adapt this bone-crushing killer bite in their head, so they really specialize their head and then they just really, really reduced their forelimbs."
"An animal can only devote so much of its body volume to one thing or another," Hutchinson said."He can't be a jack-of-all-trades. So you either have a very generalized body where everything's equally specialized for some general ecological niche, or you really specialize like T. rex, who is super specialized to be a front-end predator.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dear Abby: My boyfriend keeps putting down my sonDear Abby gives advice to a mom whose boyfriend criticizes her son and a mom whose friend is having a baby shower shortly after having a stillbirth.
Read more »
Mailbox: Ryan Day, Ohio State football not preparing properly in case of CJ Stroud injuryIn letters to Dispatch sports editor Brian White, readers sound off on why Ryan Day doesn't play other quarterbacks and why ABC doesn't fix its sound.
Read more »
Mailbox: Ryan Day, Ohio State football not preparing properly in case of CJ Stroud injury'Injuries happen in football, and you don't want to be caught with your backup not having quality snaps. Kyle McCord threw (only) two passes last week,' one reader writes.
Read more »
Here's how NASA will drop off a sample of an asteroid | Digital TrendsNASA has shared details on how exactly the OSIRISREx spacecraft will deliver its sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth.
Read more »
Armed robbers abduct two men in separate attacks in WrigleyvillePolice are warning residents in Lakeview about two armed robberies that happened early Sunday morning.
Read more »
Sheriff deputies shoot armed North Bay man near Sonoma Plaza Saturday, authorities sayPolice say the armed suspect brandished his weapon in the middle of Sonoma's bustling tourist district.
Read more »