Paleontologists have discovered the heaviest Tyrannosaurus rex ever seen in the fossil record.
The massive predator, nicknamed Scotty, weighed almost 10,000 kilograms, according to a new study published in the journal The Anatomical Record.
That’s about the weight of four pick-up trucks – heavier than
The new study describes the discovery of this 13-mete-
It's official! Our Scotty is the largest of TRex in the WORLD! She was discovered by paeolontologist Tim Tokaryk and high school teacher Robert Gebhardt 25 years ago this summer! And SHE is on display at the #TrexDiscoveryCentre in #Eastend Saskatchewan! https://t.co/JrqACVntr1
— Cypress Hills Destination Area (@CHdestinationA) March 23, 2019
But it took the paleontologists more than a decade to properly remove the skeleton from the surrounding sandstone – which had hardened like cement – plus additional time to assemble the bones.
Ultimately, they recovered 65% of Scotty’s skeleton, including its skull, lower jaw bone, hips, and leg bones, as well as the vertebrae in its neck, back, and tail. (Sue still holds the crown for most complete skeleton, with 90% of the dino’s bones intact and together.)
The final analysis shows that Scotty is the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Canada.
“This is the rex of rexes,” Scott Persons, the lead author of the study and a paleontologist at the University of Alberta, said in a press release.
Persons and his co-authors wrote that this finding shows the T. rex is the largest known terrestrial carnivore ever to have lived.