Hereâs one good thing to come out of 2020:
Paleontologists completed a life-sized replica of Sue, the most complete T. Rex ever found.
And she is freaking GORGEOUS!
As I read more about this beauty, I found out some new details regarding things I thought I previously knew about the beast that was Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Iâm going to share them with you.
First, and most obvious, her size:
This is nothing new, we all figured T. Rex was big, but I for one never stopped to consider exactly how big it was. Nobody ever really knows what to imagine when they read about something the size of a whale that walked around and ate everything it could kill.Â
Speaking of eating things, I just want to remind you all that T. Rex hadâby milesâthe strongest bite of any terrestrial animal living or dead, somewhere around six and a half tons of force. Thatâs over six times greater than the current estimate of what Allosaurus was capable of, and three times what was delivered by the highest measured reading of the living title holderâthe estuarine crocodile. It didnât have to waste time swinging its head open-mouthed like Saurophaganax for a little extra oomph, or grow fancy serrated teeth like Carcharodontosaurus to cut pieces out of its prey. It opted for the simplest approach: get its mouth around something and crush it to death; imagine the full weight of an elephant on whatever was between this thingâs jaws.
âHow did it find something to eat?â I hear you asking. âIt canât see something if it doesnât move, right?â
Listen, I love Jurassic Park too, but thatâs a big crock of shit.
Notice how both her eyes face forward. That gives her binocular vision (the ability to focus both eyes on one target, like you and I). More importantly it means she has impeccable depth perception due to overlapping fields of vision from each, large, eyeball. Researchers agree that T. Rex not only had incredible vision, but that it was probably better than most modern animalsâincluding eagles, hawks, and owlsâand that she could likely spot something three and a half miles away. If something that big can see that well, it doesnât matter if you move or not, sheâd be able to tell if it was an animal trying to hide or a piece of vegetation. So pray she isnât hungry if she lays eyes on you. And even if by some miracle she didnât see you, sheâd still smell you.Â
If she decided you looked tasty, you probably wouldnât hear her coming as much as youâd feel her. Modern science indicates that T. Rex didnât roar like in Jurassic Park, but rather bellowed or maybe even hissed like crocodilians. If she were on to you, youâd most likely feel this sense of unease creep up your spine as a low-pitched rumble in the air permeated through you. You wouldnât know what it was or where it was coming from until you hear her footfalls. By then itâs too lateâyou could try to run but sheâd probably catch you. Thereâs plenty on YouTube that reconstructs what T. Rex may have sounded like, and itâs legitimately haunting. Â
To wrap all of this up, the one bit of good that came out of the cursed year that is 2020 is that this wonderful child of science and art came into the world, and reaffirmed my respect and admiration for the eight ton slab of muscle and teeth that is this magnificent creature.
âŚand it is nothing if not magnificent.
