Tyrannosaurus Rex is the most well-known dinosaur in the world.
Are these interpretations accurate? Was T-Rex just as fearsome in real life? Did Tyrannosaurus really tower as high as 16′ 10″ like in the Jurassic Park movies?
With the help of numerous specimens, we do have a good idea about how large this Late Cretaceous beast was – and we’re going to use specimen FMNH PR 2081, otherwise known as Sue, to get some hard facts.
The Numbers On Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus Rex Length
Sue is forty-two feet long. 42 feet is equal to:
- The width of a junior high basketball court.
- The length of the right arm of the Statue of Liberty.
- 2 feet longer than the length of a double decker bus (40 feet).
- …and just for fun: equal to the length of the diameter of 604 nickels.
Tyrannosaurus Rex Weight
Sue’s estimated weight falls as low as 9.3 short tons, but recent research places her as high as 15.4 short tons. This is between 18,600 lbs and 30,800 lbs.
This is right in range of:
- A bus (with people on it)
- 2 Asian Elephants
- 165 Chris Pratt clones
- The weight of 6,160 five pound bags of sugar.
- …and just for fun: 2.5 million quarters
Tyrannosaurus Rex Height
Sue is 12 feet tall at the hips. 12 feet is equal to:
- Two Chris Pratts
- The height of a house
- …and just for fun: equal to the height of 3922 pennies stacked on top of each other.
Can you imagine if Tyrannosaurus Rex still roamed the Earth today?
Big tyrannosaurus rex. My favorite
Dinosaur ever!!!
The Hollywood actor, often connected to the famous quote Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse, died in a fiery car crash at the age of 24. T. rexes, similarly, were spectacular but died quite young . Paleontologists can estimate the age that a dinosaur was when it died by analyzing its fossilized bones, which have growth rings that correspond to its age, much like trees. Experts can count the number of rings to determine its age, as well as compare the spaces between rings to find out how fast the dinosaur was growing at different ages.