Ever since it's discovery in 1902, the Tyrannosaurus Rex has fascinated people the world over. Nowhere is this more evident than in pop culture, and in particular, videogames. Whether you are being chased by him in Turok and Dino Crisis, tearing one limb from limb in King Kong, or if you were into obscure games like I was when I was little talking to them in Dinotopia, you have to admit one thing: T. Rex has enjoyed celebrity status in games for quite awhile. T. Rex is something as important to video games as Zombies and space marines.

You are probably wondering what prompted me to go off on this rant. Well, Dinosaurs are something that has interested me since I was a little kid. Which is what lead me to pick up a copy of Science Illustrated when I was sitting in the waiting room at the barbers. One of the front page articles was of new discoveries pertaining to everybodies favorite carnivorous lizard. These new discoveries, at least in my opinion, elevate T.Rex's bad ass factor tenfold and are something game developer's should take into consideration when sticking him into their videogames.

I found these discoveries interesting and wanted to share them with the rest of the Dtoid community. Following are these new facts about Tyrannosaurus Rex, in short bullet points since I know how much you all love to read;)

SUPER SENSES

Recent studies show that, among other things, T.Rex had an acute sense of smell and eyesight. From the shape of the skull, scientists have found that the Olfactory lobe (the part of the brain that processes signals from the nose, for those of you who failed biology) was enlarged which means that they could smell prey and carrion from a large distance away. The position of the eyesockets also show that T.Rex had binocular vision similar to today's raptors (hawks and eagles, not RaptorJesus). This means they had super eyesight, which would have made them excellent snipers if it weren't for those tiny little arms.

Lived Hard, Died Young

Tyrranosaur bones are similar to tree trunks. You can tell how old they are by counting rings in the bones. Through this people have discovered that T.Rex's traditionally had a life span of 20-25 years. The oldest of which discovered was 28 years old. This short life span is mostly due to them getting beaten up throughout life. I bet if space marines stopped shooting them with lasers they would have lived longer. Bastards.

Jaws of Steel

Through I assume Gypsy magic, Scientist have discovered that T.Rex had a bite with the strength of 13,000 newtons(newtons?). The most powerful bite ever measured in an animal.
T.Rex's are now officially better than sharks.



Dinosaur Date Rape

Female Tyrranosaurus bones have been find with bite marks on the skull. The theory to this is that males during mating "bit females to persuade them to mate with them." In conclusion: T.Rex was a pimp!

Shenanigans!

There were some other stuff in the article, but none of it was as interesting as the things above.

To conclude this, recently a scientist called Mary Schwetz-a-something-or-other found T.Rex flesh preserved in bone. Which means we are closer than ever to having living,breathing dinosaur clones that we can use to fight terrorism. Or ride to the nearest Gamestop, and destroy it.