CBS Sunday Morning had a segment about our fascination with T rex. One of the most aptly named dinosaurs, it's name means "Tyrant Lizard King". This piece an interview with Mark Norell, head paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History. As the CBS crew joins a University of Kansas expedition to Wyoming to find a baby T rex.
At the American Museum of Natural History in New York City stands a goliath: The most accurate reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus Rex ever made.
And according to Mark Norell, head paleontologist at the museum, the exhibit is notable for some new ideas, such as the feathers. Newsflash: the king of the dinosaurs probably did look like it was wearing a bad toupee.
"And the eyes – one of the things that people don't understand is just how good these eyes were," Norell said. "Not only did these guys see in color, they see in more colors than we do."
Looking at a juvenile T. rex model, Norell said, "So, it's hard to believe that this thing would grow up to be 40 feet long and weigh tons and tons and tons."
"It looks sort of like a road runner bird," said correspondent Martha Teichner.
"Well, they are very closely related to birds."
Cute, until they hit their growth spurt. "They grew really, really quickly between about the ages of six years old and 18 years old," Norell said. "Around six pounds a day during that time period."
And consider their teeth. "Just the overall bite force is around 8,000 pounds, which is tremendous, but the force on the tip of any single tooth is nearly half a million pounds," he said.
Yikes! Are you scared yet?
