Jurassic World's most fierce predator among 17 dinosaurs species revealed. One can get glimpse in Chicago museum
dinosaurs
that rivaled T. rex in size used different approaches. Giganotosaurus relied more on slashing and ripping flesh. And the long and narrow snout of Spinosaurus was well-adapted for catching fish. Researchers have documented the feeding biomechanics of meat-eating dinosaurs in a comprehensive analysis of the skull design and bite force of 17 species that prowled the landscape at various times from the dawn to the twilight of the age of dinosaurs.
The study found that Tyrannosaurus possessed by far the highest estimated bite force, with a heavily reinforced skull and massive jaw muscles. But it showed that other dinosaur predators evolved successful approaches to bringing down prey even without matching the T. rex chomp.
"We found that large predatory dinosaurs didn't all evolve the same kind of skull to deal with the challenges of feeding at massive size," said vertebrate paleontologist Andre Rowe of the University of Bristol in England, lead author of the study published this month in the journal Current Biology.
"Some, like T. rex, reinforced the skull to tolerate extremely high bite forces and the associated skull stresses. Others, like Allosaurus or Spinosaurus, went with lighter or possibly flexible builds that spread out stress in different ways. There's no single 'correct' way to be a giant meat-eater, and that's the point," Rowe added.
The study focused on species within the group, or clade, called theropods that includes the meat-eating dinosaurs. They ran from Herrerasaurus, which lived in Argentina about 230 million years ago and is one of the earliest-known dinosaurs, all the way to T. rex, which was present in western North America when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago and ended the age of dinosaurs.
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The researchers used three-dimensional models of the skulls of the 17 species, including two different specimens of Tyrannosaurus, and applied a method for simulating how structures respond to physical stress. They estimated muscle forces using digital muscle reconstructions based on living relatives of the dinosaurs - birds and crocodiles - then applied those forces to the skull models to simulate bites.
"Our focus wasn't raw bite force. We were testing how the skulls distributed that force under load, and how these distributions varied by each lineage of carnivores," Rowe said.
The early theropods examined in the study such as Herrerasaurus, which lived during the middle of the Triassic Period, and Dilophosaurus, which lived early in the Jurassic Period, exhibited much lower stress resistance than their later counterparts. They were lightly built dinosaurs and not well adapted to high bite forces, Rowe said.
The increase in bite force and skull strength unfolded gradually over time, reaching its apex with Tyrannosaurus and its close relatives in a lineage called tyrannosaurs such as Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus, which like T. rex appeared late in the Cretaceous Period.
"In tyrannosaurs, there's a big jump in skull strength and bite mechanics, coinciding with deeper skulls, more robust bone architecture and changes in jaw muscle attachment. So the ramp-up wasn't immediate. It evolved over time and in certain lineages more than others," Rowe said.
Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus were three of the largest theropods, but their skulls were quite different. Perhaps the largest-known Tyrannosaurus is a specimen named Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago, at 40-1/2 feet (12.3 meters) long. Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus rivaled T. rex in size.
Giganotosaurus lived in Argentina in the middle of the Cretaceous, while Spinosaurus inhabited North Africa at around the same time, both predating Tyrannosaurus by roughly 30 million years.
"Giganotosaurus was large, but its skull wasn't built for the same kind of high-force feeding as T. rex. Spinosaurus had a long, narrow snout, which is consistent with a diet focused on fishing, though we have fossilized evidence that it ate other animals, such as pterosaurs," Rowe said, referring to the flying reptiles that were cousins of the dinosaurs.
One of the key takeaway messages, Rowe said, is that giant body size did not funnel all theropods toward the same design. Stronger bite force was one strategy, but not the only one, Rowe added.
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Time of India
20 hours ago
- Time of India
Jurassic World's most fierce predator among 17 dinosaurs species revealed. One can get glimpse in Chicago museum
Tyrannosaurus subdued prey with raw power, using bone-crushing bite force. But other meat-eating dinosaurs that rivaled T. rex in size used different approaches. Giganotosaurus relied more on slashing and ripping flesh. And the long and narrow snout of Spinosaurus was well-adapted for catching fish. Researchers have documented the feeding biomechanics of meat-eating dinosaurs in a comprehensive analysis of the skull design and bite force of 17 species that prowled the landscape at various times from the dawn to the twilight of the age of dinosaurs. The study found that Tyrannosaurus possessed by far the highest estimated bite force, with a heavily reinforced skull and massive jaw muscles. But it showed that other dinosaur predators evolved successful approaches to bringing down prey even without matching the T. rex chomp. "We found that large predatory dinosaurs didn't all evolve the same kind of skull to deal with the challenges of feeding at massive size," said vertebrate paleontologist Andre Rowe of the University of Bristol in England, lead author of the study published this month in the journal Current Biology. "Some, like T. rex, reinforced the skull to tolerate extremely high bite forces and the associated skull stresses. Others, like Allosaurus or Spinosaurus, went with lighter or possibly flexible builds that spread out stress in different ways. There's no single 'correct' way to be a giant meat-eater, and that's the point," Rowe added. The study focused on species within the group, or clade, called theropods that includes the meat-eating dinosaurs. They ran from Herrerasaurus, which lived in Argentina about 230 million years ago and is one of the earliest-known dinosaurs, all the way to T. rex, which was present in western North America when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago and ended the age of dinosaurs. Live Events The researchers used three-dimensional models of the skulls of the 17 species, including two different specimens of Tyrannosaurus, and applied a method for simulating how structures respond to physical stress. They estimated muscle forces using digital muscle reconstructions based on living relatives of the dinosaurs - birds and crocodiles - then applied those forces to the skull models to simulate bites. "Our focus wasn't raw bite force. We were testing how the skulls distributed that force under load, and how these distributions varied by each lineage of carnivores," Rowe said. The early theropods examined in the study such as Herrerasaurus, which lived during the middle of the Triassic Period, and Dilophosaurus, which lived early in the Jurassic Period, exhibited much lower stress resistance than their later counterparts. They were lightly built dinosaurs and not well adapted to high bite forces, Rowe said. The increase in bite force and skull strength unfolded gradually over time, reaching its apex with Tyrannosaurus and its close relatives in a lineage called tyrannosaurs such as Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus, which like T. rex appeared late in the Cretaceous Period. "In tyrannosaurs, there's a big jump in skull strength and bite mechanics, coinciding with deeper skulls, more robust bone architecture and changes in jaw muscle attachment. So the ramp-up wasn't immediate. It evolved over time and in certain lineages more than others," Rowe said. Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus were three of the largest theropods, but their skulls were quite different. Perhaps the largest-known Tyrannosaurus is a specimen named Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago, at 40-1/2 feet (12.3 meters) long. Giganotosaurus and Spinosaurus rivaled T. rex in size. Giganotosaurus lived in Argentina in the middle of the Cretaceous, while Spinosaurus inhabited North Africa at around the same time, both predating Tyrannosaurus by roughly 30 million years. "Giganotosaurus was large, but its skull wasn't built for the same kind of high-force feeding as T. rex. Spinosaurus had a long, narrow snout, which is consistent with a diet focused on fishing, though we have fossilized evidence that it ate other animals, such as pterosaurs," Rowe said, referring to the flying reptiles that were cousins of the dinosaurs. One of the key takeaway messages, Rowe said, is that giant body size did not funnel all theropods toward the same design. Stronger bite force was one strategy, but not the only one, Rowe added.
NDTV
12-08-2025
- NDTV
Physicist Discovers Preserved Blood Vessels In World's Largest T. Rex
Regina: Despite the fact that much of the current research in paleontology focuses on trying to find traces of organic remains in fossils, dinosaur DNA has unfortunately never been recovered. A lot of what we know about dinosaurs comes from preserved bones and teeth that are dug out of the ground. These hard tissues alone, however, are limited in the information they provide. Soft tissues are extremely rare in the fossil record, but can help provide a much more life-like reconstruction of ancient life. This includes things like muscles and ligaments, pigments or even skin (like scales or feathers), which contain detailed information on how dinosaurs lived and what they looked like. Another interesting soft tissue that can be found in bones are blood vessels. My research team and I discovered blood vessels preserved in a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, and our findings were recently published in Scientific Reports. As an undergraduate physics student at the University of Regina, I joined a research team using particle accelerators to study fossils. There, I first discovered blood vessels in a bone from a T. rex using advanced 3D models. It's been nearly six years since that moment; I am now working on my PhD where I use my background in physics to advance analysis techniques in fossil research. An extraordinary specimen The vessels were found in a remarkable T. rex specimen nicknamed Scotty. Held in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum's collection in Canada, Scotty is the largest T. rex ever unearthed. The fossil also remains one of the most complete specimens of T. rex. Scotty appeared to have had a rough life 66 million years ago; many of the recovered bones appeared to have injuries, possibly due to a fight with another dinosaur, or disease. One bone in particular, a section of rib, features a large partially healed fracture. In general, after bones experience a traumatic event like a fracture, there is a huge increase in the activity of blood vessels in the affected area as part of the healing process. We believe this is what was found in Scotty's rib: an extensive network of mineralized vessels that we were able to examine using reconstructed 3D models. Revolutionizing paleontology research When analyzing fossil bones, there are two main challenges. The first is how to examine the interior of the bones without damaging the fossil. And second, the bones are very large and can be quite dense due to the fossilization process, where minerals replace and fill in original organic materials. At first, we thought we could perform an computed topography (CT) scan of the bone, similar to what is used for medical purposes, which allows imaging of bones without damaging them. While this solves the first problem, the second problem means that a conventional medical CT machine is not nearly powerful enough to penetrate the dense bone. For our examination, we used synchrotron light, special high-intensity x-rays. These are produced at select particle accelerator labs, and allow us to investigate microstructures such as blood vessels in the bone with ease. Synchrotron x-rays can also be useful for chemical analysis. We found the vessels were preserved as iron-rich mineralized casts, a common form of fossilization, but in two distinct layers. This layering is due to the complicated environmental history that led to the exceptional preservation seen in Scotty's rib. Written in blood vessels By analyzing blood vessels produced by an incompletely healed fracture, we can hopefully learn how T. rex healed, helping speculation on how Scotty was able to survive after sustaining injuries. This could lead to evolutionary information comparing the vessel structures seen in Scotty to other dinosaur species, as well as modern relatives to dinosaurs like birds. The results may also help future fossil exploration by guiding scientists to target bones that show signs of injury or disease, potentially increasing the chances of discovering more vessels or other types of preserved soft tissues. With cross-disciplinary research and novel applications of advanced technologies, there is so much potential to recreate the past lives of dinosaurs like never before. (Author: , Physics PhD Candidate, University of Regina) (Disclaimer Statement: Jerit Leo Mitchell receives funding from Mitacs Accelerate and the Sylvia Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation.) This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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First Post
12-08-2025
- First Post
History Today: How archaeologists found the world's largest dinosaur fossil
The complete remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the biggest dinosaurs, were found in South Dakota on August 12, 1990. In the course of the next few days, palaeontologists carefully excavated more than 250 bones, which revealed a specimen over 40 feet long and around 13 feet tall at the hips read more One of the biggest dinosaur fossils, the complete remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex, was found in South Dakota on August 12, 1990. Found in the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota's Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, this specimen is recognised as the largest and most intact T. rex skeleton ever unearthed. If you are a history geek who loves to learn about important events from the past, Firstpost Explainers' ongoing series, History Today, will be your one-stop destination to explore key events. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD IBM's personal computer 515 officially went on sale in retail stores on this day in 1981. Here is all that happened on this day. The largest dinosaur fossil was found On this day in 1990, amateur fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson made one of the most significant paleontological discoveries ever recorded - the remarkably complete remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex which was later nicknamed 'Sue.' Found in the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota's Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, this specimen is recognised as the largest and most intact T. rex skeleton ever unearthed, with approximately 90 percent of the bones recovered. A Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, one of the Dino Quest exhibits at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, California. Wikimedia Commons Over the next 17 days, Hendrickson's team, led by palaeontologist Peter Larson of the Black Hills Institute, carefully excavated more than 250 bones, revealing a specimen over 40 feet long and around 13 feet tall at the hips. Notably well preserved, Sue's skull alone weighed over 600 pounds, presenting outstanding anatomical detail that would transform scientific understanding of the species. More from Explainers New Income Tax bill clears in Lok Sabha: What are the big changes? Scientific analysis of Sue's remains revealed intriguing signs of trauma and disease. The skeleton bore healed rib fractures and jaw infections, indicating the dinosaur survived violent encounters before succumbing, potentially aggravated by illness. Another notable find was Sue's wishbone (furcula), a feature that provides crucial evidence linking birds to theropod dinosaurs. Sue's discovery triggered a complex legal battle involving land ownership and tribal claims. In 1997, the fossil was ultimately sold at auction to the Field Museum in Chicago for over $8 million, where it became a major public attraction and continues to be a central subject of ongoing scientific research. IBM personal computer was launched The computing world was forever changed when IBM officially announced the launch of its first Personal Computer (PC), the Model 5150. The launch represented IBM's entry into the consumer and small-business computer market, an arena then dominated by companies like Apple, Commodore, and Tandy. IBM's personal computer model 5150 launched on August 12, 1990. Wikimedia Commons Prior to the IBM PC, personal computers were often seen as toys for hobbyists, with machines like the Apple II and Commodore PET dominating the small, but growing, market. IBM, a company long synonymous with corporate mainframes, was a late but formidable entrant. The company's decision to use an open architecture, relying on off-the-shelf components like an Intel processor and Microsoft's MS-DOS operating system, was a radical departure from its traditional closed systems. This choice proved to be a masterstroke. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The announcement was a watershed moment because it bestowed a new level of legitimacy on the personal computer. IBM's reputation and marketing power signalled that computers were no longer just for enthusiasts but were now serious tools for business and the home. The availability of the computer in major retailers like Sears and ComputerLand, starting in September 1981, ensured it quickly reached a wide audience. This Day, This Year In 1961, East Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall. Isaac Merrit Singer patented his sewing machine and formed I.M. Singer & Company to market the product on this day in 1851.
