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Fossils of more than 40 T. rex individuals have been found since it was first described in 1905, providing a wealth of information about a beast that thrives in the popular imagination
Researchers on Thursday unveiled the first calculation of the total T. rex population during the estimated 2.4 million years that this fearsome species inhabited western North America during the twilight of the age of dinosaurs.
They considered factors including the size of its geographic range, its body mass, growth pattern, age at sexual maturity, life expectancy, duration of a single generation and the total time that T. rex existed before extinction 66 million years ago. They also heeded a doctrine called Damuth s law linking population to body mass: the bigger the animal, the fewer the individuals.
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Here s how many T. rex once roamed Earth, according to a team of researchers. The answer is staggering Share Updated: 11:09 PM EDT Apr 15, 2021 Amy Woodyatt, CNN SOURCE: Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley
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Here s how many T. rex once roamed Earth, according to a team of researchers. The answer is staggering Share Updated: 11:09 PM EDT Apr 15, 2021 Amy Woodyatt, CNN Billions of Tyrannosaurus rex roamed North America during their fascinating reign as top predators, according to a team of researchers that went about the daunting task of making the calculation.Paleontologists from the University of California, Berkeley, set out to put a number on how many T. rex lived during the Cretaceous period about 65 million to 98 million years ago knowing that it wouldn t be a simple task.Fossils have long been used to deepen our understanding about extinct creatures
By Amy Woodyatt, CNN
A team of experts say that billions of T. rex roamed North America. (CNN)Billions of Tyrannosaurus rex roamed North America during their fascinating reign as top predators, according to a team of researchers that went about the daunting task of making the calculation.
Paleontologists from the University of California, Berkeley, set out to put a number on how many T. rex lived during the Cretaceous period about 65 million to 98 million years ago knowing that it wouldn t be a simple task.
Fossils have long been used to deepen our understanding about extinct creatures such as dinosaurs, but experts say it can be challenging to use these remains to calculate population density and abundance.
6 hours ago in Features
FILE - In this Tuesday, March 7, 2006 file photo, life-sized Tyrannosaurus rex models are unloaded for a dinosaur exhibition in Potsdam, Germany. A study released on Thursday, April 15, 2021 calculates that 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex prowled North America over a couple million years or so, with maybe 20,000 at any given time. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner) Photo: Associated Press
By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer
One Tyrannosaurus rex seems scary enough. Now picture 2.5 billion of them. That’s how many of the fierce dinosaur king probably roamed Earth over the course of a couple million years, a new study finds.
2.5 billion T rex roamed Earth, but not all at once | Study
2.5 billion T rex roamed Earth, but not all at once | Study
A study released on Thursday calculated that 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex prowled North America over a couple million years or so, with maybe 20,000 at any given time.
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Life-sized Tyrannosaurus rex models unloaded for a dinosaur exhibition in Potsdam, Germany. (Photo: AP)
One Tyrannosaurus rex seems scary enough. Now picture 2.5 billion of them. That s how many of the fierce dinosaur king probably roamed Earth over the course of a couple million years, a new study finds.
Using calculations based on body size, sexual maturity and the creatures energy needs, a team at the University of California, Berkeley figured out just how many T. rex lived over 127,000 generations, according to a study in Thursday s journal Science. It s a first-of-its-kind number, but just an estimate with a margin of error that is the size of a T. rex.