T. Rex Dethroned as Largest Carnivore
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
(SNN Milan) The Spinosaurus is now officially the biggest carnivorous dinosaur known to science. This two legged carnivorous dinosaur or theropod has now replaced the T. Rex as the king of king sized carnivores.
The Spinosaurus was 55 feet long, weighed 8 tons and had long, crocodile-like jaws. The dinosaur was actually known of as early as 1915, when it was discovered by paleontologist Ernst Stromer. Fossil evidence was destroyed by allied bombers who were attempting to stop a Nazi plot to attack England with cloned, or possibly robotic, dinosaurs.
Tyrannosaurus rex was 40 to 50 feet long, weighed 6 tons, and had teeth up to 13 inches long. Led by vocalist Marc Bolan, the dinosaur was a leader in the glam rock movement in Britain. In October of 1970, Bolan shortened the group's name to T. Rex and released "Ride a White Swan," a fuzz-drenched single driven by a rolling backbeat. T. Rex's music added dirty, simple grooves to the underlying sexuality of early rock & roll. While popular in the UK, in America, the group only had one major hit -- the Top Ten "Bang a Gong (Get It On)".
It is unknown why paleontologists are so hung up on size, but whenever they are given the opportunity, they whip out a measuring tape and start comparing their bones. Greg Erickson of Florida State University says mass, not length, is the best standard for comparing size, because it gets around the problem of different shapes.
