14 votes

Only two and a half billion tyrannosaurus rex inhabited the planet in total, researchers say

Posted by drannex
Tags: archaeology, history, research, paleontology, researchers, dinosaurs, theropods, tyrannosaurus rex, author.jacob knutson, source.axios
https://www.axios.com/t-rex-billion-dinosaur-population-estimates-study-bbee965b-268c-4afc-9dc7-f9f9901ab080.html

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Title
Researchers estimate 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex inhabited the Earth
Authors
Jacob Knutson
Published
Apr 15 2021
Word count
497 words

2 comments

  1. [2]
    drannex
    Link
    They were around for a lot longer than I originally thought. When you consider that the most endangered elephant, the Asian Elephant, only has 50,000 remaining that number is modestly low.

    The number is staggering: 2.5 billion Tyrannosaurus rex lived and died during the roughly 2.4 million years the species survived on the planet, according to a new study

    They were around for a lot longer than I originally thought.

    With this information and an estimated geographic area that the species occupied, the researchers were able to approximate that about 20,000 T. rex were alive at any given time that the species lived on the planet.

    When you consider that the most endangered elephant, the Asian Elephant, only has 50,000 remaining that number is modestly low.

    10 votes
    1. teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      That's not wildly different from the territory size of the big cats of today.

      Using the body mass, the team calculated that the species had a population density of around one individual per 40 square miles.

      That's not wildly different from the territory size of the big cats of today.

      7 votes