June 9, 2023: The most recent estimate puts the number of T. rex that roamed our planet between 68 and 65.5 million years ago at 1.7 billion! Keep reading to know more.
The T. rex population was estimated to number 2.5 billion earlier in April 2021 by a study, which was the first to do so using data on average body mass, population density, geographic range, age of maturity, eggs laid, average lifespan, survival rates, and generation time.
According to the initial research, each T. rex generation probably contained roughly 20,000 individuals. Additionally, during their 2.5 million years on Earth, there were approximately 125,000 generations, bringing their combined numbers to approximately 2.5 billion.
The author of the current study, Eva Griebeler, discovered some inconsistencies in these figures.
Her findings revealed that key variables, including survival rates, egg-laying capability, and the number of T. rex generations during this time, were slightly overstated, leading to an exaggerated total.
In fact, she discovered that the values of these parameters were closer to those of modern birds and reptiles.
The maximum number of T. rex individuals was closer to 1.7 billion once the model was updated with the new parameters, which showed there were 19,000 individuals in each generation of T. rex and only approximately 90,000 generations overall.
Putting all rumours to rest, Charles Marshall, lead author of the earlier study, praised the new "well-rounded study that improves upon the original team's work," adding that they were happy it was revised to a "more realistic" number.
We have only discovered the remnants of around 0.0000002% of the massive Tyrannosaurus rex, according to Griebeler's revised predictions.
Both discoveries raise the intriguing possibility that there are billions of dinosaur bones buried beneath the Earth, just waiting to be discovered, given that T. rex were just one type of the many dinosaur species that roamed the planet during the age of reptiles.
This study was published in the journal Palaeontology.