What was the lifespan of a tyrannosaurus rex

Weighing up to eight tons, T. These dinosaurs likely preyed on living animals and scavenged carcasses —and sometimes they even ate one another. The head of a T. This fierce carnivore was optimally built for crunching through its meals, with a stiff skull that allowed it to channel all the force of its muscles into one bite— delivering up to six tons of pressure.

This dinosaur used its 60 serrated teeth , each about eight inches long, to pierce and grip flesh, throwing prey into the air and swallowing it whole. To keep itself from overheating while crushing prey with its mighty jaws, the giant animal had vents in its head to help its brain stay cool, similar to those found in alligators.

Tyrannosaurus rex was also adept at finding its prey thanks to a keen sense of smell. While scientists have known for a while that this dinosaur devoted large portions of its brain to processing smell, studies have recently revealed that T. This powerful snout also likely helped T. Not everything about Tyrannosaurus rex was fierce, however.

This dinosaur had unexpectedly puny arms, and the function of these little limbs is a source of debate among scientists. Others argue that T. And while they had strong thighs, these dinosaurs were not speedy. They could only walk briskly at up to 12 miles an hour —likely not fast enough to chase a speeding Jeep, as depicted in the movie Jurassic Park.

Using biomechanical models, scientists have theorized that if these heavy animals moved any faster, they would have shattered the bones in their feet.

Tyrannosaurus rex had a life expectancy of about 28 years. In January , a study of the fossils of Nanotyrannus —a smaller tyrannosaur that was believed to have lived alongside T. In spite of all its advantages, T. This cataclysm occurred when an asteroid or comet the size of a mountain slammed into Earth, wiping out Tyrannosaurus rex along with the rest of the non-avian dinosaurs and bringing a sudden end to the Cretaceous period. Previous analysis of T.

The team also used climate models and the locations of T. Using these figures and data from living species, the team estimated that there was around one T. Previous research shows T. Estimates of population size for long-extinct animals are rare because there are so few fossils.

This estimate for adult T. Marshall and his colleagues acknowledge that their estimates could vary because there are some uncertainties in the data — there could have been anywhere from million to 42 billion individuals over the time period they existed.

It is now understood that most dinosaurs grew for a large part of their lives, with a particularly rapid spurt during adolescence. In the late s, two adult and one juvenile Camarasaurus specimens were found together in the United States, indicating that these sauropods travelled in family groups and possibly herds.

It is thought that some dinosaurs may have migrated significant distances, notably those living near the Earth's poles, where food supplies were seasonal. Suggestions of how far they travelled vary, but one recent study estimated large sauropods might have made an 1,mile round trip each year.

Dinosaurs: How long did they live? Carnivores may have lived to 30 years, herbivores far longer. Predators like Tyrannosaurus rex grew fast and died young.