Why do T-Rex have small arms?

Behind me is a skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

And it sure does have small arms.

Why is that?

The tyrant lizard king Tyrannosaurus rex had very tiny arms.

But tiny is a relative term.

They were still about three feet long, longer than most adult human arms.

But in terms of proportion to their body, they were very small.

If I were a T-Rex, my arms would only be about five inches long.

Paleontologists theorize that T-Rex could actually do quite a lot with those short arms, including slash and hold prey and maybe communicate with other t-rexes, but their short arms may also have been a helpful adaptation to prevent them from getting bitten off by other dinosaurs when they gathered to eat fallen prey.

Despite its small uppe extremities, Tyrannosaurus rex is one of the most notorious predators in the world.

These dinosaurs likely weighed as much as a large African elephant, about 15,000 pounds, and they were up to 12ft tall and 40ft long, including their tail.

That's as long as a yellow school bus.

And let's talk about their heads.

That skull is more than four feet long, and inside it are 60 teeth that are each more than eight inches.

Their incredible bite force allowed them to crush bones with a pressure of up to six tons.

That would be like one of us chomping into a cow bone like it's a cracker.

So I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to run int one of these ferocious beasts.

No matter how short their arms are.

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