1. “ Tyrannosaurus Rex ” Deducing the life style of the dinosaur
The “Tyrant Lizard King” of the Cretaceous Period
The most “popular dinosaur” of all time... Portrayed as both deadly and loveable

2. “Sue” “Stan” Discovered by Sue Hendrickson in 1990
Field Museum of Natural
History bought it for $7.6 million in 1997
85% of its bones recovered
“Stan”
Discovered by
Stan Sacrison in 1987
Black Hills Institute of
Geological Research
65% of its bones recovered
(replicate at Tellus)

3. Modern Bone Wars This T-rex Skull Cost Nicholas Cage $275,000
Dueling Dinosaurs – Asking price $7 million
Academic Study
Vs.
Commercial Sales
This T-rex Skull
Cost Nicholas Cage
$275,000

4. Hell Creek Formation - 75 T-rex specimens; mostly from Montana & S.D.
River Deposits in a Delta

5. 3 2 Archosaurs flat teeth hole in jaw hole between eye & nose
(black arrows) 2
Diapsids two “holes” in skull
behind the eye orbit
(white arrows) 4 3
Amniotic - Egg Laying 4 2 1

7. Lizard- like Pelvis Bird- like Hip Pelvis Pubis slopes steeply forward
Pubis slopes gently backward

9. Classification: Hips ... Neck & Teeth ..... Feet.... Stiff Tail
Coelurosaurs
toes
teeth
Meat Eaters
hips
Classification: Hips ... Neck & Teeth Feet Stiff Tail

10. ?

11. If this pecking is annoying just reach up and slap be off
Arms so short it is comical
Were they useless ??
Why T-rex was not a good boxer

12. Stress Analysis of very thick upper arm (humerus) indicates the
arms were very strong.... Indicates could easily lift 500 pounds.

13. Mating Position Museo del Jurásico de Asturias
“Museum of the Jurassic”
Asturias, Spain

14. “gracile” morph
Male ?
“robust” morph
Female ?

15. The Stiff Tail.... and Posture?

16. Indicate he would have dislocated hip and pinched nerves in his tail
Posture
77 years of Incorrect
Upright Stance
Studies of Vertebrae and Joints
Indicate he would have dislocated
hip and pinched nerves in his tail
Correct Posture

17. “Sue” “Stan” Discovered by Sue Hendrickson in 1990 Largest know T-rex
to date at 9 ½ tons
If she was “average” then largest would be 11 ½ tons
“Stan”
Discovered by
Stan Sacrison in 1987
Black Hills Institute of
Geological Research
Is about 20th largest on a list of 75

18. “Wankel” Closest full T-rex to us. Discovered by Rancher Kathy
Wankel in 1988
Unveiled in Spring 2014 at Smithsonian Museum
On loan from “Museum of the Rockies”
Dr. John R. Horner Montana State University at Bozeman, Montana

19. Putting your head in the “Lion’s Mouth”
Teeth
Putting your head in the “Lion’s Mouth” Or
Future Dentist?
Teeth are ...
Curved Backwards
Serrated
Sharp Points
Overlapping jaws

20. A = Old Tooth He got new teeth about every two years
Shed Teeth: Tooth Replacement Rate for a T-rex
A = Old Tooth
B = Replacement
He got new teeth about every two years
Erickson G PNAS 1996;93: National Academy of Sciences

21. What & How DID T-REX Coprolite Can’t chew... Can’t crush?
EAT ?
Early idea About Teeth mismatch
CONCLUSION...
COULD NOT “CHEW”
Thus shred meat only
Coprolite
Fossil Feces – T-rex Poop
Filled with shredded bones
Can’t chew... Can’t crush?

22. T-Rex Coprolite Cross- Section
Skull plate
is 10” thick
Found in Canada, Studied at Univ. of Colorado
Bone fragments are of a skull of a Pachycephalosaur
Connective muscle tissue in some undigested pieces of meat

23. Large Head + Muscles Power to jaws.... Strongest “bite” for
(via 3-D stress analysis)
100,000 Newton
6 tons of pressure
Very large elephant sitting on you
Could crush a car
Would easily crack vertebrae
Or break up a skull
Strongest “bite” for
any animal that ever
existed on our planet

24. Hunter Scavenger Bites to Kill... Would have gone for neck vertebrae
Bites for food...
Would have gone
for large shoulder
muscles

25. Another T- rex attacked Stan, but he survived the
Teeth Marks
Only Arm Bone has
Teeth marks for 24 ft. long
grazing Dino. - Scavenger
Bite marks healed on
a vertebrate of Stan and vertebrae of Triceratops
Another T- rex attacked
Stan, but he survived the
attack . Thus... T-rex
was a “Hunter”
(and a fighter)

26. Nerve signals have a speed limit of 180 ft/sec. ....
Scavenger Arguments
Not a “fast” runner...
based upon distance from foot to spinal cord
Nerve signals have a speed limit of 180 ft/sec
T-Rex would not feel what it steps on if it is running 20 mph ...
Would be “running blind” -- moved more like a modern elephant

27. HOW FAST ?? Trackways (Trace Fossils) & Stride Distance
Running is > S/H = 3.0
7.75 m / 2.5 m = 3.1
S / H

28. 7.75m
Relative Stride length = (Left foot to Left foot) m / (Height to Hip) 2.5 m = 3.1
Speed = (dimensionless speed) x  (H.H/) x (G.A.) = 1.5 x  2.5 x 9.8 = 7.4 m/s
(Gravitational Acceleration = 9.8 m/sec2) = about 17 mph

29. University of London – Biomechanical Modeling
Muscle Analysis from Structure & Motion Laboratory
University of London – Biomechanical Modeling
18 mph
John Hutchinson

30. Movie “Jurassic Park 2”.... T-rex ran about 40 mph
Skull Structure – Stress Analysis .... A fall at that Speed would be “fatal”

31. Life Span and Growth Rates of Tyrannosaurs Rex
Out side edge of Bone Section
With “dormant periods” each year... Yearly growth lines ...like tree rings

32. “Sue” was 29 years old when she died of old age ?
Life Span and Growth Rates of Tyrannosaurs Rex
“Sue” was 29 years old when she died of old age ?
Teen Age Growth Spurt Adding about 4.5 lbs a day

33. almost “human” pattern
Rare Fossil of “young”
T-rex in death pose
Survivorship shows an
almost “human” pattern
(very few young died)

34. Dinosaur Size Comparison
Sue

35. Largest Coprolite ?
In 2010 one of the largest coprolites
ever found was dug up just feet from
Sarah Palin’s back porch in Alaska.
Sarah was on lecture tour, and when she was advised that coprolite was buried in her back yard, she is reported as saying ...
“I don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. I don’t have any corporate executives buried in my back yard, for heaven’s sake”

36. T-rex Ave. Spinosaurs is largest carnivores dinosaur At 14 tons
(28,000 lbs)
T-rex
Ave.
At 7 ½ tons
(15,000 lbs)

37. Future - Science Fiction becomes Science Reality ?
“Jack” Horner found a 68-million yr. old Juvenile
Too Heavy for Helicopter to lift...
Had to break the leg bones in the field
Revealed “soft tissue” preserved
Amino Acids & Proteins are present
(they are similar to those of chickens..... Dr. Mary Schweitzer - NCSU)

38. How Many Existed? - Food Supply - Pyramids
Cold Blooded Warm Blooded
Eats 70% of base Eats 90% of base

39. Dinosaur Food Pyramid Each Level Consumes 90% of Level below it
Edmontosaurus
Need 100 lbs. of plants to support 10 lbs of plant eaters ....To Support lb of T-rex

40. X If you want to find a T-rex... Go to 47o35’N 106o 55’W
Two still in rock: First is 135 yd. bearing 60o ;
+ Second is 110 yd. bearing 150o

41. Horner JR, Goodwin MB, Myhrvold N (2011) http://www. plosone

42. Ratio “Live” Prey : T-rex
Pie chart of the census for large-bodied dinosaurs from the entire Hell Creek Formation
Ratio
“Live” Prey : T-rex
4 : 1
( not 9 : 1 )
She had to have
a more diverse diet than
seen in the fossil record
“scavenger / cannibal”
(eating your own can get to 9:1)
Horner JR, Goodwin MB, Myhrvold N (2011)

43. From relative ratio... To how many in North America?
What proportion of land animals die in a stream or coastal region?
What proportion in a stream get covered by sediment
prior to decaying or being eaten?
How big is the land mass?
How much territory does each
one need to have enough food?
BEST ESTIMATE...
A million to make 1 fossil skeleton
Over 100 million roamed Laramidia
At any one time – 90,000 alive
1 per 110 mi2 (about 75 in metro Atlanta area)

44. If we can compare to mammals ... Greater than a “cat”
INTELLIGENCE (EQ) Ratio of Actual Brain Size to Predicted Brain Size (weight)
EQ of T-Rex is about 1.8
If we can compare to mammals ... Greater than a “cat”
Less than a “monkey”

45. Probably not that smart
“I Speak 11 Phrase
Probably not that smart
But Kids “love” T-rex

46. “You’re Doing It Wrong” Kids aren’t good at anatomy
Being a T-Rex for
Halloween
“You’re Doing It Wrong”
Kids aren’t good at anatomy
Aren’t Kids Fun !!

47. STOP !!
Aren’t Kids Fun !!
THE END

48.
Guinness World Records Ltd. (2003) Guinness World Records. pg 90.
Still soft and stretchy, by Carl Wieland.
National Geographic - T. Rex Soft Tissue Found Preserved