A new study suggests that up to 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs lived on Earth over a period of several million years.
However, research shows that not many of these powerful creatures lived in the same place at the same time.
Tyrannosaurus Rex, commonly known as T. rex, has existed on Earth for millions of years. Scientists involved in the study estimate about 2.5 billion of them lived over a period of 2.4 million years. The dinosaurs lived mostly in the area of the world now known as North America.
A team at the University of California at Berkeley has devised a method to estimate how much T. rex, called ‘the dinosaur king’, ever lived. The findings were recently published in the journal Science.
The method aimed to establish a relationship between body size and population density. The scientists based their research on the theory that the larger an animal is, the smaller its population will be.
To come up with an overall number, the team considered the body size of the dinosaur to be sexual maturity and energy needs. Experts believe this is the first time such an estimate has been made.
Some scientists studying dinosaurs have said they are very interested in the new findings.
Kristi Curry Rogers is a paleobiologist at Macalester College. She said she’d a double takeWhen she saw the number.
Charles Marshall was the lead author of the study. He is the director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
‘It is very cake, “he said.” It’s a lot of teeth. It’s a lot claws. ”
According to the researchers, a city as large as Washington DC would probably have lived only two T. rex in the area. They estimated that about 4,000 would live on a piece of land as large as a large state, such as California.
The estimates are useful for scientists studying dinosaurs because they help them understand the percentage of T. rex bones or fossils that survived.
Marshall said only about 100 identifiable T. rex fossils have been found. This means that if humans were just 2.5 million of the dinosaurs, humans would never have learned it.
The scientists believed that a T. rex lived about 28 years and that he had food needs between a large lizard and a lion.
Since all the numbers are estimates only, the scientists say the results are not perfect. They think it is possible that the actual number of T. rex was between 140 million and 42 billion. The middle number is about 2.4 billion.
Some people may ask why scientists prefer to study animals that lived so long ago. James Farlow, a professor of geology at Purdue University, expressed his opinion. He said he believes the study is important, but also: ‘these kinds of things are very cool. ”
I’m Dan Friedell.
Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press wrote this story. Dan Friedell adapted it to learn English. Bryan Lynn was the editor.
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Words in this story
maturity -A. to officially decide (something), especially because of evidence or facts : to determine (something) precisely or with authority
double take -A. an act of quickly looking at something that is surprising or unusual a second time after looking at it a moment earlier
jaw -A. one of the two bones of the face where teeth grow
claw -A. a sharply curved part on the toe of an animal (such as a cat or bird)
cool –Adj. very fashionable, stylish or attractive