JAKARTA – A group of scientists from Argentina managed to find the answer why the jurassic era’s tallest predator, dinosaur T-Rex, has short hands. In his time, the hands of the T-Rex were in contrast to the body parts of the predator whose full name was Tyrannosaurus rex.
Normally T-Rex has a very large body with a length of 14 meters and a height of 4 meters. The head is also very large balanced with giant sharp teeth. It’s just that the hands are actually very small.
In a report in the journal Current Biology, the Argentine scientists found fossil The T-Rex that turned out to be able to lead to the answer to why the T-Rex had short hands. The fossil, called Meraxes gigas, was found in Northern Patagonia, Argentina.
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The body of the Meraxes gigas is also not much different from the existing T-Rex. The BBC said the fossils found were up to 11 meters long, with a 1.2 meter long skull. But like the T-Rex in general, the fossil has a very short arm that is 50 centimeters.
Scientists believe small limbs confer a survival advantage on carnivores. “I believe that the disproportionately small arms had some kind of function. The skeleton shows the insertion of large muscles and a fully developed pectoral girdle, so the arms have strong muscles,” said Juan Canale, lead author of the study.
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“They may use their arms for reproductive behaviors such as holding the female during mating or supporting themselves to get back up after a break or fall,” he added.
Meanwhile, Peter Makovicky from the University of Minnesota said the size of the T-Rex fossil was indeed very strange. Even literally half the length of the skull and the animal wouldn’t be able to reach its mouth.
He said the T-Rex’s massive head was its primary means of prey. The head instead takes on the function that the arms actually have in the smaller species.
(wsb)
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