Featured White Papers
- Oct. 14th: Simplified IT with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) (ZDNet)
- PCI DSS therapy for the smaller retailer (McAfee)
- The rise of Web commuting (Citrix Online)
Content provided in partnership with
Growing giant
Science World, Jan 3, 2005 by Mona Chiang
Ever return from summer vacation to find a classmate has suddenly grown much taller? Like humans, the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex--nicknamed T. rex--experienced a teenage growth spurt.
Biologist Gregory Erickson of Florida State University studied growth rings inside T. rex bones. "They are like tree rings," he says. "A new ring developed each year of the dinosaur's life." Since bones widened as the dinosaur grew, Erickson measured the ring's circumference (outer boundary) to estimate the T. rex's size at each age.
His findings: Between ages 14 and 18, the average T. rex shot up in size. At the peak of this growth spurt, it put on more than 2 kilograms (4.5 pounds) a day.
"It's unclear why the T. rex shot up in size," says Erickson. "But being gigantic sure was advantageous." When the giant roamed Earth, few animals dared to cross its path.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Scholastic, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Technology
Most Popular Articles in Reference
- The importance of understanding organizational culture
- Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students
- What factors attract foreign direct investment?
- Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...
- How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques
- More »