Re: Weighing T. rex model

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <th81@umail.umd.edu>]

At 05:51 AM 9/22/98 -0700, you wrote:
>How much drilling for air sacs and shaving down for leanness is required to
>properly weigh a Boston Museum of Science / Battat 1/40 scale
>_Tyrannosaurus_ model using water displacement?  If not 1:1, what is the
>presumed density of tyrannosaurid flesh as compared to that of water?  

Values may be as low as 0.85 that of water to about 1:1.  See either Paul's
_Predatory Dinosaurs of the World_ or Farlow et al.'s 1995 paper in Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP 15: 713-725).

Remember that the vertebrae of tyrannosaurids are highly pneumatic: for
equal volumes, a vertebra of a tyrannosaur would almost certain weigh less
than that of a mammal.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist     Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology              Email:tholtz@geol.umd.edu
University of Maryland        Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD  20742       Fax:  301-314-9661