How many t rex have been found

The figure has allowed researchers to estimate just how exceedingly rare it is for animals to fossilize. Palaeontologists led by Charles Marshall at the University of California, Berkeley, used a method employed by ecologists studying contemporary creatures to estimate the population density of T.

The question is, how rare? To do that, he and his co-authors turned to a method used to estimate the population density of living animals from their body mass and the geographic ranges that they occupy. The team used its estimates of the total range of T. That translates to around 3, T. Calculating that T. Only 32 adult T. This means that the chances of being fossilized — even for one of the largest-ever carnivores — were vanishingly small. Not convinced? Find out more ». Share this article via facebook Share this article via twitter Share this article via messenger Share this with Share this article via email Share this article via flipboard Copy link.

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The dinosaur's average adult body mass was around 5, kilograms 11, pounds , and a growth spurt at sexual maturity could send them to 7, kilograms 15, pounds. From these estimates, the team came to the conclusion that each generation of T. Researchers discover a dinosaur preserved sitting on a nest of eggs with fossilized embryos, a first.

With a standing population of 20, of the dinosaurs, and with some , generations of the species, there would be 2. The researchers' methods "seem to be very informative while also showing the present limits of what can be done with what we now know," said Jason C.