Palaeontology

As many as 1.7 billion Tyrannosaurus rexes once roamed the Earth

By T.K. Randall
May 18, 2023

Image: Tyrannosaurus Rex Holotype
Credit: ScottRobertAnselmo / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Tyrannosaurus rex needs no introduction - this gargantuan carnivorous reptile is widely considered to be one of the fiercest land predators ever to walk the face of the Earth.

But exactly how many individuals were there overall if we count every T.rex that ever lived ?

Back in 2021, a study was published suggesting that there might have been as many as 2.5 billion individual T. rexes, but now a newer study has called this estimate into question - instead putting forward the possibility that the actual number may have been closer to 1.7 billion.According to study author Eva Griebeler, this difference can be attributed to the inclusion of new information that the original study hadn't taken into account as well as renewed estimates concerning population density, number of eggs laid and average lifespan.

Incredibly, even accounting for this smaller number, the estimate puts into perspective just how rare it is to find a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil.

If the number is accurate, it means we have only found the remains of 0.0000002% of all the T. rexes that ever lived.

The other 99.999999% are either laying in wait in the ground somewhere or are lost forever.

Source: Live Science

Tags: Dinosaur