Gigantic T. Rex Skeleton Found in Canada Is Officially World's Biggest
Source: Gizmodo
Gigantic T. Rex Skeleton Found in Canada Is Officially World's Biggest
George Dvorsky
Yesterday 2:05pm Filed to: DINOSAURS
Updated measurements of a large fossil found in Saskatchewan nearly 30 years ago confirm it as the world’s largest known Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Remarkably, the new work suggests T. rex and other dinosaurs grew to a greater size than is typically appreciated.
New research published last week in The Anatomical Record describes “Scotty,” a T. rex skeleton otherwise known as specimen RSM P2523.8. Scotty is now officially the largest and most aged T. rex ever discovered, and the most gigantic of any of the known two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs known as theropods. At an estimated 19,555 pounds (8,870 kg), it’s also the biggest dinosaur ever discovered in Canada. The new study was led by paleontologist Scott Persons from the University of Alberta.
Scotty’s skeleton was discovered near Eastend, Saskatchewan in 1991, but work to remove it from the ground didn’t fully start until 1994. It took paleontologists nearly a decade to excavate the fossil because it was encased in compact, cement-like sandstone. The extra effort to excavate the bones, plus the sheer size of the specimen, resulted in further delays. That said, the paleontologists were able to recover around 65 percent of the T. rex specimen, which terrorized Cretaceous Canada some 66 million years ago.
Early attempts to characterize the skeleton between 2008 and 2014 were marred by inaccuracies owing to the fact that the fossil hadn’t been fully prepared for analysis. Consequently, and as Persons pointed out in the new study, Scotty “has never been formally described and its skeletal proportions scientifically quantified.” The new study is now the first to offer detailed and accurate measurements of the skeleton, including a comparative analysis with other known T. rex fossils.
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Read more: https://gizmodo.com/gigantic-t-rex-skeleton-found-in-canada-is-officially-1833547406
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Related: An Older and Exceptionally Large Adult Specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex (The Anatomical Record)
The Scotty T. rex on display.
Image: Amanda Kelley
