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How many T. rex ever existed? Calculation of dinosaur’s abundance offers an answer

Scientists use geographic range and body mass to establish how unlikely it was for the ‘tyrant lizard king’ to fossilize.
  1. Freda Kreier
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Ever wondered how many Tyrannosaurus rex ever roamed Earth? The answer is 2.5 billion over the two million or so years for which the species existed, according to a calculation published today in Science1. The figure has allowed researchers to estimate just how exceedingly rare it is for animals to fossilize.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00984-2

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 15 April 2021: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said that this study provides the first calculation of T. rex’s abundance.

References

  1. Marshall, C. R. et al. Science 372, 284–287 (2021).

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