Overview
- The peer-reviewed paper in Science Advances reports an average T. rex body temperature of about 36.3°C with an uncertainty of ±2.5°C based on analyses of three teeth from the Hell Creek formation.
- Researchers used a durable tooth enamel signal that counts heavy carbon–oxygen bonds as a chemical 'thermometer' and refined the technique to remove most of the destructive sampling that museums previously rejected.
- The team obtained small samples from museum-held T. rex specimens after the reduced-destructive method made sampling acceptable to curators.
- Comparisons with contemporaneous crocodilian teeth (around 30.9°C) support the view that T. rex generated internal heat, a result consistent with warm-blooded physiology but not a direct measure of metabolic rate.
- Authors plan to apply the method to more tyrannosaur and other dinosaur teeth to test how widespread endothermy was, while noting that the small sample size and ±2.5°C uncertainty mean broader conclusions will need more data.