Tyrannosaurus rex Had Mammal-Like Body Temperature, Study Finds
A new study using clumped isotope paleothermometry on T. rex teeth suggests the dinosaur maintained a body temperature of approximately 36.3 degrees Celsius. This indicates the predator was endothermic, similar to modern large mammals like elephants.
Why it matters
This finding challenges traditional views of dinosaur physiology and provides new insights into the metabolic capabilities of ancient apex predators.
A new analysis of Tyrannosaurus rex teeth indicates the ancient predator maintained a body temperature of about 36.3 degrees Celsius (97.3 degrees Fahrenheit), close to that of Indian and African elephants and far warmer than its cold-blooded reptile neighbors.
Tyrannosaurus rex holotype specimen at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, the United States. Image credit: Scott Robert Anselmo / CC BY-SA 3.0.
“ Tyrannosaurus rex is perhaps the most intensely studied dinosaur owing to a relatively well-sampled record, earning it the status of an exemplar organism that is commonly referenced in studies of vertebrate paleontology,” said University of California-Los Angeles geobiologist Robert Eagle and his colleagues.
“Aspects of the biology and ecology of Tyrannosaurus rex , which provide evidence for an endothermic thermophysiology, include locomotor costs, growth rates, and geographic distribution, yet confident estimates of body temperature are lacking.”
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