T-Rex was bigger and scarier than we thought, say experts

Actually nine tons heavier and grew much faster

Scientists 'weighed' beast using 3D laser scans

One of the largest carnivores ever was even fiercer than we imagined.

Using cutting edge technology to 'weigh' models of the Tyrannosaurus rex experts discovered the beast could get to a weight of nine tons, 30 per cent more than previously thought, and grew twice as fast.



The researchers used lasers to create ultra-accurate 3D scans of dinosaur skeletons - then 'modelled' flesh for the beasts using the soft tissue-to-skeleton ratios of birds and crocodiles as a guide.

The findings came from measuring skeletons including Chicago's Field Museum's 'SUE' skeleton, which was discovered by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson (pictured)

The study, published in the journal PLoS One, was conducted by a team of scientists led by Professor John R. Hutchinson of The Royal Veterinary College, London, and Peter Makovicky, PhD, curator of dinosaurs at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

The group even got their hands on the Field Museum's iconic SUE skeleton and used 3D laser scans as a template for generating fleshed-out digital models whose masses could then be computed.



Makovicky said this method provided more accuracy than previous methods which relied on scale models.

He said: 'The scale models magnify even minor errors, or on extrapolations from living animals with very different body plans from dinosaurs. We overcame such problems by using the actual skeletons as a starting point for our study.

Cutting edge: Using computer technology digital skin was overlaid from the skeleton to create body volume, whose mass was calculated after empty spaces such as lungs and the mouth cavity were modeled

The laser scans are accurate to less than half an inch for skeletons that are up to 40 feet long.

Digital body cross-sections were reconstructed along the length of each skeleton using the relationships of the soft tissues to skeletons in birds and crocodiles as a guide.



SPEED AND AGILITY OF THE T-REX

T-rex grew at 3,950lbs per year (1,790 kg) during the teenage period, which is more than twice the previous estimate.'

This rapid growth to size came at the cost of speed and agility, according to the study, which concluded that the locomotion of this giant biped slowed as the animal grew.

This is because its torso became longer and heavier while its limbs grew relatively shorter and lighter, shifting its center of balance forward.

Professor Hutchinson said: 'The total limb musculature of an adult T. rex probably was relatively larger than that of a living elephant, rhinoceros, or giraffe, partly because of its giant tail and hip muscles.

'Yet the muscles of the lower leg were not as proportionately large as those of living birds, and those muscles seem to limit the speed at which living animals can run.

The study supports the relative consensus among scientists that peak speeds around 10-25 miles per hour (17-40 kph) were possible for big tyrannosaurs.



A digital skin was then overlaid to generate a body volume, whose mass was calculated after empty spaces such as lungs and the mouth cavity were modeled and subtracted.

In order to appreciate the uncertainty involved in estimating how much flesh would wrap the skeleton of an extinct animal, body sections were modeled individually at three levels of 'fleshiness.'

The three versions of each body segment were combined in different ways to generate a range of whole body models with varying masses.



The Field Museum's SUE skeleton, which is the largest and most complete T-rex skeleton known, weighed in at over nine tons.

'We knew she was big but the 30 percent increase in her weight was unexpected.' said Mr Makovicky.

The fleshier models for SUE range even higher in body mass, though this is likely an effect of how the skeleton was reconstructed.



'SUE's vertebrae were compressed by 65 million years of fossilization, which forced a more barrel-chested reconstruction' says Makovicky.



But he thinks that the new weight estimates will not be affected much by correcting for this.



'Nine tons is the minimum estimate we arrived at using a very skinny body form, so even if we made the chest smaller, adding a more realistic amount of flesh would make up for the weight,' he explains.

SUE was also larger than the other specimens when individual body segments were compared, but Makovicky is not surprised by that result.



'We often hear about new T. rex discoveries that rival SUE in some select measurement, but body size is a three-dimensional parameter and SUE is much more robust than other known skeletons,' he says.

The weight estimates also alter understanding of T-rex biology.



The higher mass estimates for the larger specimens and a lower one for the smallest individual indicate even faster growth than was proposed in a landmark study just five years ago.

... This comes as a fossil of 135million-year-old predator dinosaur related to the T-Rex is discovered completely INTACT

The 'best ever' remains of a predator dinosaur have been unearthed in Germany with 98 per cent of its skeleton intact.



The discovery of the dinosaur, nicknamed Otto by paleontologists in Bavaria, is being hailed as a sensation, and the German government has already decreed it cannot leave the country.



The Theropod - 'beast-footed' - dinosaur is of the same family as the T-Rex but the individual found in Kelheim has not yet been categorised.



Sensational: Experts have hailed the discovery of the dinosaur as the 'best of its kind' in Europe

Otto is 28 inches long and a juvenile. Hair and traces of skin have also been found on the skeleton.



The creature lived 135 million years ago and is being exhibited to the public for the first time on October 27 for four days at a special dinosaur exhibition in Munich.

'It is a truly outstanding find,' said Oliver Rauhut, curator at the Bavarian National Collection for Paleontology and Geology where the find was announced today.

'It is the best of its kind ever found in Europe.'

Unearthed: Scientists uncovering the remains of the dinosaur thought to be a relative of the modern-day whale

Most examples of killer-dinosaurs like theT-Rex yield up a maximum of 80 per cent of their skeletons. But Rauhut said that it is 'remarkable' to find 98 percent of the creature after so long, with all the changes that the earth has undergone.



He added: 'It is also extremely rare to get one so young. It is a marvellous specimen.'



Experts believe the creature was just one year old when it died in the Jurassic era.



The T-Rex's hairs are of particular interest because they will undergo intense tests to find the link which binds dinosaurs with modern-day birds.

Revealed: Part of the fascinating fossil remains is unearthed in a discovery that scientists have described as one of the finest specimens of its kind

The skeleton was found two years ago on a riverbank but only now has it come to light.



The site where it was discovered is being kept secret amid fears that 'dino-hunters' may descend upon the area in the future.

The German government was persuaded to make Otto 'German Cultural Property', which means the skeleton cannot be sold abroad where on the open market it could be worth millions to fossil hunters.

Attention has now switched to trying to identify just what kind of predator Otto was.

