Scientists reveal how long a T. Rex dinosaur took to grow to its full size

A group of researchers has estimated how long it took Tyrannosaurus rex to reach its full size — and the time period is significantly longer than scientists previously believed.The dinosaur is believed to have been Earth’s largest land predator.It may have taken around 40 years — not 30 — for it to reach its full size, according to the new study.The findings were published in the journal PeerJ.

The growth trajectory “is more gradual than expected,” the lead author of the study, Holly Woodward of Oklahoma State University, told Reuters. “Rather than T.rex ratcheting up to adult size quickly, it spent a lot of its life at juvenile-to-subadult sizes,” the paleohistologist said.The study analyzed bone tissue microstructure in the leg bones of 17 T.

rex fossils — discovering that it took around four decades for the dinosaurs to reach a maximum size of roughly eight tons.Paleontologists have long believed it took around 30 years for these dinosaurs to reach full size.Researchers also found growth marks in the bones that were only visible using polarized light.Some of these marks were found on leg bones and represented annual growth, much like tree trunks.Researchers analyzed the remains of both juveniles and fully grown adults.“We also found that growth-ring spacing in individual T.

rex was variable,” Woodward told Reuters. “T.rex had a flexible growth pattern.

Some years it didn’t grow much, while other years it grew a lot.”Study co-author Jack Horner of Chapman University told Reuters the new estimate is based on a fresh statistical approach that took growth records from different specimens into account.“We don’t know for certain which of these estimates [is] more accurate, since we don’t have living T.rexes to measure, but these new estimates make more sense logically and statistically, considering the size these dinosaurs [attained],” Horner said.Growth pacing likely depended on resource availability and environmental c...