Tyrannosaurus Rex Even Bigger Than We Thought in Size

The Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the biggest and fiercest dinosaurs we know about, but U.S. and UK scientists are saying their new study findings show how our original predictions were wrong.

Recently, five Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons were examined with 3-D laser scans and computer modeling. The scanned images were then used to construct digital models so flesh could be added to the skeletal frames. The team of Chicago Field Museum found from the most complete skeleton that the numbers mean it was around 30 percent more than what we guessed. This also leads scientists to believe that the Tyrannosaurus Rex's growth may have experienced a different trajectory.

From our previous understanding, the dinosaur grew the fastest between ages 10 through 15. This is mostly due to the amount of weight Tyrannosaurus Rex put on in their teenage years-up to 11 pounds a day. Now, they believe that the Tyrannosaurus Rex was growing twice as fast in that period of time.

The team's latest research was published in PLoS ONE, a peer-reviewed science journal on the Web.