Recent predictions suggest that the prehistoric T. rex population was actually smaller than what specialists assumed.
T. Rex Population Size
According to Live Science, scientists have recalculated the number of T. rex dinosaurs that used to lurk over the Earth. Now, these new recalculations show that there were 1.7 billion of these dinosaurs that have lived and lurked over the planet. This contrasted with an earlier 2021 study that estimated that there were as many as 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs that lived roughly 68 to 65.5 million years ago.
The recent recalculations were detailed further in the Palaeontology journal. Study author and evolutionary ecologist Eva Griebeler from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany mentioned to Live Science that the new model accounted for data that the earlier study overlooked. This is why the new estimations got smaller.
Charles Marshall, the 2021 study's lead author and a paleontologist from the University of California, Berkeley, notes that the results were more well-rounded and that it boosted the work of the earlier team.
In the 2021 study, different variables were factored into the model. These variables included population density, average body mass, sexual maturity age, estimated geographic range, average lifespan, number of eggs laid, generation time, and survival rates. All of these were analyzed to see the number of T. rex dinosaurs that could have survived with each other.
The earlier model showed that each generation of T. rex dinosaurs may have comprised 20,000 individuals and that there may have been roughly 125,000 generations within their 2.5 million years of existence. This meant that the T. rex population size was 2.5 billion.
Griebeler, however, did not agree with some of the inputted data. She thought that egg-laying capacities, generation numbers, and survival rates were overestimated. Results could have ended up skewed because of this.
Griebeler conducted and published another study shortly after this earlier study. Her findings revealed that these values were more similar to those of modern reptiles and birds.
When such values were included in the recent and updated model, it showed that each generation of T. rex dinosaurs consisted of 19,000 individuals and that there were only roughly 90,000 generations. This means that the ceiling for the T. rex population was 1.7 billion.
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Tyrannosaurus Rex
According to the National Geographic, T. rex dinosaurs were among the world's most ferocious predators. They had sharp teeth, strong jaws, and massive bodies that could have enabled them to crush entire cars.
Now, regardless of the exact T. rex population size, the two studies raise an intriguing question: where are the dinosaur bones? If the latest predictions are indeed true, this means that paleontologists have only recovered 0.0000002% of these huge bones. Both Marshall and Griebeler agree that this is a vital question that further research may look into.
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