New study uncovers theory on why the T. rex had tiny arms - CTV News
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T. rex's famously useless-looking arms may actually be evolution's master stroke — a case study in how natural selection ruthlessly trades one trait for another.
Natural SelectionEvolutionary Trade-Off TheoryAdaptive RadiationMorphological Constraint
Theory Briefing
- T. rex evolved smaller arms as its skull became a massive, bone-crushing weapon for tackling gigantic prey.
- Natural selection favored a trade-off: shrinking arms reduced injury risk from thrashing prey during coordinated group attacks.
- Other large meat-eating dinosaurs show the same pattern, suggesting tiny arms were a widespread adaptive strategy, not a fluke.