Tyrannosaurus Rex
Could T.
Rex Really Only See You If You Moved?
It’s a
question that has plagued moviegoers since Jurassic Park was released in 1993:
Could a T. Rex really only see you if you moved? Thanks to researchers at the
University of Oregon, that question could finally be answered.
University
of Oregon researcher Professor Kent Stevens began a project called “DinoMorph”
in 1993 which set out to generate digital models of various theropod dinosaurs,
including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptors. Theropods were
bipedal, flesh-eating dinosaurs with short forelimbs. The idea of the project
was to recreate the visualizations of these animals.
To do this,
Stevens effectively turned a technique used to measure and assess visual
fields, called perimetry, inside out. This novel technique, called inverse
perimetry, involved the use of taxidermic eyes, a laser and a glass plate which
together allowed Stevens to estimate whether a particular object would be
visible at various elevations.
Stevens
determined that a T-Rex’s binocular range was 55 degrees, which is wider than
even hawks. And it would have only gotten better. Paleontologists know from the
fossil record that, over millennia, T. rex’s eyes got larger and its snout got
lower and narrower, giving it even clearer sight lines than Stevens’ model.
While T.
Rex may have possessed excellent vision, it was likely a secondary concern next
to its sense of smell. The Jurassic park cast most likely would have been prey
anyway, according to Stevens, who said that “If you’re sweating in fear one
inch from the nostrils of the T. Rex, it would figure out you were there
anyway.”
That said,
there is some debate as to just how fast they were, with most scientists today
thinking they had only a max speed of about 17-25 mph. That would have made the
jeep chasing scene quite a bit less dramatic.
Debunked!
Sources:
P.S. - If you have any urban legend or superstition that you are doubtful of, just comment it and I will try to debunk that.
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