UCLA scientists have perfected a method to measure a dinosaur's temperature from its teeth and found that T. rex was a relatable 97°F (36°C)—almost the same as humans. The finding, using fossils from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, confirms the "King of the Tyrant Lizards" would have been a fast-moving predator or scavenger—not a sun-basking slowpoke—that was able to survive in chilly climates deadly to other reptiles.
UCLA researchers developed their 'prehistoric thermometer method' a decade ago, using bones to measure whether extinct animals were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. Testing it on a T. rex, however, required more bone than any museum would part with.
Over that decade, however, the UCLA team refined the process, cutting the amount of material needed for ancient dental testing by roughly 90%. It was enough to convince L.A.'s Natural History Museum to provide portions of two teeth from Thomas the T. rex, the most complete of the towering tyrannosaur skeletons inside NHM's dinosaur hall.
Though scientists have found increasing evidence that T. rex was warm-blooded in recent years, the study published Sept. 16 in Science Advances marks the first time scientists have had an actual number.
UCLA researchers developed their 'prehistoric thermometer method' a decade ago, using bones to measure whether extinct animals were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. Testing it on a T. rex, however, required more bone than any museum would part with.
Over that decade, however, the UCLA team refined the process, cutting the amount of material needed for ancient dental testing by roughly 90%. It was enough to convince L.A.'s Natural History Museum to provide portions of two teeth from Thomas the T. rex, the most complete of the towering tyrannosaur skeletons inside NHM's dinosaur hall.
Though scientists have found increasing evidence that T. rex was warm-blooded in recent years, the study published Sept. 16 in Science Advances marks the first time scientists have had an actual number.
