A team of artists and paleontologists have created, in their own opinion, the most accurate depiction of T-Rex. To do this, they used the latest research data.
The result is a plump, smooth-skinned beast with graceful forearms and a very low center of gravity. Perhaps the most significant change in the new job is the tyrannosaurus rex's lack of feathers. Some experts claim that the T-Rex did not have them.
“[The team] worked from the skeleton, spending months on the muscles. Now everyone can see the result,”says paleobiologist and lead dinosaur skeleton artist Scott Hartman, who provided advice during the project. "I was stunned by how much time they spent and how much attention to detail they paid."
Project manager was R. J. Palmer. Commissioned by the developers of the video game Saurian, he reviewed over 20 published research papers on T-Rex and its physiognomy. Specifically, Palmer focused on a 2017 paper published in Biology Letters, which suggested that this dinosaur was not covered with feathers in some places, as previously assumed, but, on the contrary, had no feathers at all.
Skeleton in the new T-Rex reconstruction - Like all other findings in the new reconstruction, the lack of feather cover is controversial, but Palmer and his team believe they have achieved the most accurate image on the available data.
For example, taking avian physiology as a basis, they placed keratin plates on the back of the T-Rex's head. In addition, biologists added extra tissue in the mouth at the jawline to hide teeth when the mouth is closed, based on small holes in the dinosaur bones that could supply this tissue with nutrients.
Muscles in the new T-Rex reconstruction.
Considerable attention was paid to details - down to the blunt claws on the feet (which would round out with constant impacts on the ground) and sharp claws on the upper limbs (which, in principle, were not adapted for something specific). The giant drawing, which took 320 hours to complete, will be housed in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
Promotional video:
Final reconstruction of T-Rex.
"I must say there are not many paleo projects in the world that focus so much on depicting believable animal appearances," says paleontologist and paleo artist Mark Whitton, who also consulted on the project.
Vladimir Guillen