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Newly Hatched T. Rex Babies Came Out Of The Egg Ready To Chase Their Own Food
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Artist's impression of a newly hatched T. rex, already hunting prey
Image Credit: Raul Martin
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A foot bone from a baby Tyrannosaurus indicates it came out of the egg ready to chase its own food, rather than relying on its parents like most modern birds.
Nicholas Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, found the bone in a fossil collection held at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, recognizing it as a metatarsal (foot bone) of a very young T. rex, something that hadn't been studied before.<br>Knowing that Eric Snively at Oklahoma State University had done extensive research on adult T. rex metatarsals, Longrich got in touch, and Snively saw the potential immediately.<br>“Metatarsals of a baby Tyrannosaurus might tell us if the babies were hunting right away or were in the nest for a longer time,” Snively said in a statement.<br>CT scans revealed the bone had no growth rings, so it must be from an individual less than a year old. On the other hand, the web of interconnected blood vessels and bone cells confirmed rapid growth, as one would expect of a predator that quickly balloons to enormous size.
Most crucially, Snively said: “We found canals in the bone that indicate they were quickly out of the nest and running around.”
Combined with previous evidence of worn teeth from T. rex hatchlings, this showed that,...