Fat-footed tyrannosaurs couldn't keep up with their 'skinnier' offspring

September 11, 2021

New research by the University of New England's Palaeoscience Research Centre suggests juvenile tyrannosaurs were slenderer and relatively faster for their body size compared to their multi-tonne parents.

The research analysed a collection of fossilised tyrannosaur footprints to learn more about the way these animals aged and how they moved.

"The results suggest that as some tyrannosaurs grew older and heavier, their feet also became comparably more bulky," Mr Enriquez said.

"Fully grown tyrannosaurs were believed to be more robust than younger individuals based on their relatively shorter hind limbs and more massive skulls, but nobody had explored this growth pattern using fossil footprints, which are unique in that they can provide a snapshot of the feet as they appeared in life, with outlines of the soft, fleshy parts of the foot that are rarely preserved as fossils.