The surprising reason why T. rex had short arms
For more than a century, Tyrannosaurus rex has carried one of paleontology’s most stubborn visual jokes: a giant body, a massive skull, and arms so short they seem almost absurd. Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley, argues that the joke may point to something serious. In a study published in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, he suggests the tiny forelimbs of large tyrannosaurs may have shrunk not because they were useful, but because they were dangerous to keep around. His idea is blunt. When several tyrannosaurs crowded around a carcass, long arms may have become a liability. In that kind of violent feeding scene, with huge skulls and bone-crushing jaws working close together, an arm placed too near the action could be bitten, torn, or even amputated. “What if several adult tyrannosaurs converged on a carcass?” Padian said. “You have a bunch of massive skulls, with incredibly powerful jaws and teeth, ripping and chomping down flesh and bone right next to you.” He pushed the image further. If another animal thought you were …
