Main content
American Museum of Natural History
Course: American Museum of Natural History > Unit 1
Lesson 2: How do scientists study dinosaurs?- Where in the world did dinosaurs live?
- Where in the world did dinosaurs live?
- Did dinosaurs travel in herds or packs?
- Did dinosaurs travel in herds or packs?
- How fast were dinosaurs?
- Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?
- Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?
- How fast did dinosaurs grow, and how long did they live?
- How fast did dinosaurs grow, and how long did they live?
- What was dinosaur skin like?
- What color were extinct dinosaurs?
- What color were extinct dinosaurs?
- What were the biggest and smallest dinosaurs?
- Did dinosaurs fight?
- How did dinosaurs reproduce?
- How intelligent were dinosaurs?
- New research points to dinosaurs' colorful past
- New dinosaur research: Microraptor's feather color revealed
- Quiz: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
- Exploration Questions: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
- Answers to Exploration Questions: How do scientists study dinosaurs?
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
How fast did dinosaurs grow, and how long did they live?
Until recently, paleontologists could only guess the maturity rate and lifespan of dinosaurs. Recent research involving microscopic analyses of the cellular structure of dinosaur bone has revolutionized our answers to these mysteries. Dinosaur bones contain growth rings, somewhat like the rings in tree trunks, which reveal yearly periods of rapid and slow growth. These studies, done in conjunction with paleontologists at AMNH, document that that Tyrannosaurus, which attained a weight of more than 10,000 pounds as an adult, reached sexual maturity at about 20 years of age and lived for up to 28 years. Created by American Museum of Natural History.
Want to join the conversation?
- How large could dinosaurs grow too?(3 votes)
- I don't know how big could the Dinosaur grow..
But I can explain you that How a Dinosaur grows so big, that is
Until fairly recently, scientists thought that the dinosaurs could grow so big because they were reptiles. Reptiles can keep growing till they die, while mammals (including man) stop growing at adulthood. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica CD (2005):
‘The significant difference between growth in reptiles and that in mammals is that a reptile has the potential of growing throughout its life, whereas a mammal reaches a terminal size and grows no more, even though it may subsequently live many years in ideal conditions.‘A huge animal called Seismosaurus was found in New Mexico and many paleontologists believe it is really an old Diplodocus. It weighed 30 tonnes and was 45 metres (150 ft) long.(4 votes)
- Hmm... Since humans are considered to be Adults around that time, is it possible that T. Rex lived as long as Humans?(2 votes)
- Unfortunately, humans and T. rex are very different, so comparing them directly isn't very useful. Humans happen to have a longer childhood than even our close relatives because our babies have to be proportionally smaller when they are born, for example. There are too many differences to assume maturing at the same age means the same life expectancy.(1 vote)
- What was the largest dinosaur in the ancients?(0 votes)
- A new species of titanosaur unearthed in Argentina is the largest animal ever to walk the Earth, palaeontologists say. Fossilised bones of a dinosaur believed to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth have been unearthed in Argentina, palaeontologists say. Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m (130ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall. Weighing in at 77 tonnes, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus. Scientists believe it is a new species of titanosaur - an enormous herbivore dating from the Late Cretaceous period.
For more Information please visit :-
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27441156(3 votes)
- how long did dinosaurs live(0 votes)
- Dinosaurs lived between 230 and 65 million years ago, in a time known as the Mesozoic Era. This was many millions of years before the first modern humans, Homo sapiens, appeared. Scientists divide the Mesozoic Era into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.(1 vote)
Video transcript
Just like groups of mammals, different
dinosaurs lived and grew at different rates. All of our knowledge that we have
about how fast dinosaurs grew, and how long that they lived, is really group dependent, depending on
group of dinosaurs it is. Some of our best evidence comes from Tyrannosaurus, and
Tyrannosaurus that we know that they reached adult size in seventeen years or around
seventeen years. In the oldest member of Tyrannosaurus Rex that we know, the Sue specimen in Chicago which is just a little bit over twenty five years
old. Obviously our sample is very small so
it's highly likely that Tyrannosaurus lived longer than that, we just don't have the
samples to show it.