Happy Thought for 4 November 2022

Have a Happy Thought: 

 Dinosaurs existed on this planet.

Like when you stop to think about that, it should just make you happy.

(yes I know birds are dinosaurs and they still exist on this planet)

(and yes that should also make you happy!)

 

But you’re here for more than that, let me tell you a little bit about one specific dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus rex who lived and died 67 million years ago, but is now a beloved member of the Field Museum in Chicago (and Twitter) – Sue the T. Rex.

Image: the Field Museum of Chicago https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/sue-t-rex

 

Also known as “Specimen FMNH PR 2081”, this dinosaur that may or may not be female (it was named after the discovering palaeontologist, Sue Henderson) is the most complete T. Rex skeleton that’s been found – we have over 90% of the bones.

 

This means we can learn a lot about T. Rex from Sue (the skeleton, not the palaeontologist). (Ok, probably from both).

 

Like, could you win an arm-wrestling contest against a T. Rex? (Answer: No. And… we really, REALLY recommend you don’t even try it, if you ever find yourself across the table from a T. Rex. Like, maybe try running, or hiding, or crawling into a tiny but deep cave instead.)

 

Or, did dinosaurs ever suffer from gout? (Answer: Yes! Scientists found deposits on “Sue”’s bones that look very much like signatures gout leaves on human bones - https://www.nature.com/articles/387357a0.pdf)

 

How long did a T. Rex live? (Answer: 30 years would be old for a T. Rex. Scientists counted the rings on Sue’s bones – yep, like a tree – to determine the age at death was about 28.


How fast would a T. Rex baby grow? (Answer: FAST. During the adolescent growth spurt, they reckon that Sue gained 2kg a day!)

 


Thanks to This Podcast Will Kill You for letting us know that dinosaurs had gout (and other fascinating gout-y facts)!

Sue facts from https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/sue-t-rex

 

 

And a bonus, especially for you that have been following tech news over the last couple of weeks: I learned a new term this week. It comes to us courtesy of the recent purchase of Twitter:


(Yes it's absolutely ironic that I learned about this on Twitter)

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