Those Tiny T. Rex Arms Appear Little Used, Researchers Say

By Associated Press
Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, on public display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. company. Turns out The Field Museum’s T. rex Sue didn’t use those tiny arms very much. At least that’s the initial conclusion from a detailed scan of the fossil’s right forelimb at the Argonne National Laboratory. Researchers there used a scan to generate a 3-D image of the arm bones down to the cellular level.
Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, on public display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. company. Turns out The Field Museum's T. rex Sue didn't use those tiny arms very much. At least that's the initial conclusion from a detailed scan of the fossil's right forelimb at the Argonne National Laboratory. Researchers there used a scan to generate a 3-D image of the arm bones down to the cellular level. M. Spencer Green / AP Photo
Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, on public display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. company. Turns out The Field Museum’s T. rex Sue didn’t use those tiny arms very much. At least that’s the initial conclusion from a detailed scan of the fossil’s right forelimb at the Argonne National Laboratory. Researchers there used a scan to generate a 3-D image of the arm bones down to the cellular level.
Sue, the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, on public display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. company. Turns out The Field Museum's T. rex Sue didn't use those tiny arms very much. At least that's the initial conclusion from a detailed scan of the fossil's right forelimb at the Argonne National Laboratory. Researchers there used a scan to generate a 3-D image of the arm bones down to the cellular level. M. Spencer Green / AP Photo

Those Tiny T. Rex Arms Appear Little Used, Researchers Say

By Associated Press
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CHICAGO (AP) — It turns out The Field Museum’s T. rex Sue didn’t use those tiny arms very much.

At least that’s the initial conclusion from a detailed look at the fossil’s right forelimb at the Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago. Researchers there used a scan to generate a 3-D image of the arm bones down to the cellular level.

Final results will take months or years.

Pete Makovicky is associate curator of dinosaurs at the Chicago museum. He said Thursday there “aren’t many signs of stress on the bones that would indicate frequent use.”

But, he adds, there’s still a lot to learn.

Precisely why T. rex had forelimbs is one of the enduring mysteries of dinosaur paleontology. The Field says it will share the results of the study when they’re available.