What were Tyrannosaur Forelimbs Used For?

Tyrannosaurs are among the most famous non-avian dinosaurs, and for readily apparent reasons. Alongside their massive frames and formidable skulls, there is always one element which is noticed and often made fun of more so than probably any other animal in recent history, that being their comparatively tiny arms, which have been a source of much humour ever since the animals were first described. This video will detail the history of the understanding of these structures and what they were used for, allowing for a greater appreciation of them in the process.I hope you enjoy.
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www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...
www.scientificamerican.com/ar...
books.google.co.nz/books?hl=e...
scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzool...
thescienceexplorer.com/nature/...
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[@minicle426]

They are used for the T-Rex's little known ability to play the piano incredibly well.

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

Must have been the harpsichord. Piano wasn't invented yet.

[@fl00fydragon]

Specifically to play Il vento d'oro

[@izzaacalley]

They can only play harmony notes lol

[@pluggothesluggo5509]

@@alfonsomunoz4424 r/whooo- *GASP*

[@Rodneytheproducer1986]

😂😂

[@thedukeofchutney468]

1800s: We don’t know what they’re for. 2020s: We still don’t know what they’re for.

[@kennethsatria6607]

Seems pretty strongly built and deadly so we can already rule out more vestigial reasons I think

[@dinolover]

T-rex is essentially a giant mouth, it doesnt need huge arms because they would simply get in the way of it just biting the absolute fuck outta something. If anything they were probably used sparingly like for helping it get up from off the ground or securing itself while mating

[@justsomerandombirdwithinte5896]

Mabye to hold itself up during mating as well as grabbing onto larger prey, When mating it could use its wrists to hold istelf up

[@miguelmontenegro3520]

2090: We still don't know what they're for.

[@woodfloorstyles]

They were on their way to becoming wings

[@Hunter-sm7vz]

Imagine they had front arms just as long as their back and ran like dogs. That would be terrifying

[@caillove-scheuler6725]

Search up some of the oldest crocodiles,that's what they did. That galloped on land to hunt.

[@nickname9001]

No thanks, I won't imagine that.

[@skelebones4716]

Oh hell no.

[@sunnygolightly9996]

Certain species could went extinct because of that.

[@aaronwinans2372]

imagine the arms were that long but it still ran on two legs and they just hung there

[@Daaninator]

I just noticed that a t-rex looks pretty funny with those arms

[@cjassasin453]

Make em look dumb ahh hell

[@craiglicata7125]

@PixelDrixxle except a t-Rex is far, far heavier than that. Any gorilla or chimp could do more than that

[@PancakesEnjoyer]

@@craiglicata7125 body to size ratio for those tiny little arms that's pretty good I'd say

[@karolinedemon]

Same it was always normal for me but now.. it kinda looks weird indeed

[@vario6492]

Welcome to 1981

[@janisleimanis7080]

To show peace sign. That's it.

[@janisleimanis7080]

@nick sweeney How many T-rexes it takes to wrap a joint thou?

[@charlesjennings93]

😆😆 I laughed way too hard at this. This comment needs more likes.

[@theoponeboom1119]

No bud no they ovieissly them to hold their slong

[@janisleimanis7080]

@nick sweeney And then in the 5. day God made Trex and said. "Behold thee! This beast of land with gigant mouth, I made for edibles! Shall it rebell against it's nature, it shall embarrass itself."

[@janisleimanis7080]

@nick sweeney Yes. I graduated Armchair academy of biblical theory. Taking extra masters courses in basic spelling and manual breathing.

[@kiarash608]

T.rex: Look at my tiny arms Carnotaurus: Hold my beer. No please, literally hold it, cause i can't

[@mr.raptor6051]

Lmao nice one 😂😂

[@brandonluker3660]

lol

[@gildedbear5355]

@@brandonluker3660 I can't man, no thumbs.

[@travisbishop782]

Ha! That's a good one!

[@yuujinner5801]

Alvesaurids: you guys have hands?

[@Shivaxi]

Everyone talkin bout offense, but what about defense? I'd say these probably work much better to defend against attacks made at the T-Rex in this region, perhaps supporting the gash found on the other T-Rex's skull in this video, who likely got that from attacking another T-Rex of course.

[@RexProctor]

Nah I don't fight much so my arms aren't really used for offense or defense.

[@GameDevNerd]

Yeah, it's possible ... the chest/belly area would be vulnerable if another dinosaur could get up under them. Just like when dogs or cats fight and will try to go low and get at the chest and belly. Another T-Rex would probably do the same thing and try to attack the belly and legs, and it'd be difficult for the other to bite at the flat of the attacker's back from that position. So I imagine they could start digging at the head and neck of the opponent with those little clawed arms to get them out of that vulnerable area. Just look at the size of those hooked claws ... they are clearly weapons for very close range to deal with threats getting beneath them. And they probably used them in other ways too. Could be that multiple theories are valid, and they used them for mating, too. Not sure if an adult T-Rex could use them to roll over or get back to their feet, but they probably helped juveniles get back up when they fell or were knocked over.

[@askmeaboutsugma]

You act like there aren’t a load of other creatures that could slice a T. Rex.

[@guysumpthin2974]

Answer : buffalo wings

[@saff1257]

oh so you’re saying the grooves on trex 1 weren’t attacks from trex 2 but more from the defense of trex 2 against the trex 1 who was trying to attack its chest area

[@ronzology]

I've always thought the arms are mainly for children. The arms would be pretty big at first maybe, so the children would use the arms to walk or hang on their mothers and grab food, and provide balance. Their legs, head and tail wouldn't be as big when they're young, which explains the needs of the arms. However, as they grow up, the arms start to not be as useful since everything else is just better. I haven't seen a baby trex skeleton so idk if their arms are relatively bigger to the body than an adult or if it's relatively the same.

[@him1517]

based on what I found seems like you’re right, the fossils I saw in he arms are a proportionally good size and it seems they were used in hatching to push themselves out of the egg

[@Lowlandlord]

My understanding, having suggested a professional paleontologist the same thing, is that the arms were never really of a useful size relative to the rest of the body. Also, this is covered around 6:44.

[@kabivose]

It's more sensible than my theory anyway: sword fighting.

[@DaVideoGameBeastr]

The funny thing is their forelimbs would still beat any human in an arm wrestle

[@James-yy4vl]

Not that funny really when you consider they weigh between 5 and 8 tonnes. Bit of a miss match.

[@mcthrull7417]

@Garfiel L’Zanya U can beat it if its dead

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Definitely, if their wrists allowed them to do so.

[@fubene5495]

@@HenrythePaleoGuy And they wont, so there is not movement involved in the "why so small" debate, check my comment and my theory, you have way more knowledge about dinos than me i would be really glad to hear your opinion about my "weight distribution and growing resources theory" the arms are vestigial in my opinion, but rexies still need them even if they dont use them at all.

[@derek96720]

A human the size of a T-Rex though would bitch slap that dino.

[@birdiemcchicken1471]

I feel like a T-Rex's arms would be like a human's pinky fingers. They don't do a lot, but they're still useful, and you'd miss not having them.

[@dylanholderman]

not to be that guy but the the human pinky is actually very important for your grip strength, just look at home many muscle connections it has compared to the other fingers

[@justsleepingby8136]

@@dylanholderman damnnn... I do know that but damn!!!! I should really need to know more about life, u know.... u kinda woke me up. In a way. Damnnnnñm. I'm lazy. Wtf right?

[@johnnytanman6097]

How would I sprint on a pc game though

[@gipsydangeramericasmonster9632]

@@johnnytanman6097 look at the controls menu in the games you play. Usually it’s shift. Left shift, not right.

[@jonc8074]

@@dylanholderman that's why yakuza cut it off, a serious punishment. you can't hold a katana if you lose your left pinky

[@its2point072]

I always thought it was like how we have a tailbone. It's just easier for evolution to keep it around since it's not hurting anything. But I'll absolutely entertain some of these other hypothesis! Great video

[@Ardi-wd9kz]

If the arms were covered with plumage, they could have been utilized to keep the eggs warm as they crouched over them and or to move them if necessary to safer places. They may have also been used to dig small ditches for their egg clutches. Overall, an aid for nesting.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

I seriously doubt the digging, but, since I prefer to think of dinosaurs mostly being feathered (even if they're the most primitive type of feathers), using the arms that way makes some sense.

[@WobblesandBean]

My personal theory is that T Rex needed them when they were born, so had more musculature and range of motion to help catch and hold prey as young dinos. But as they grew older, and their massive heads developed, they no longer needed their arms, and so they atrophied while the body used those resources for building and maintaining their powerful jaws instead.

[@CeaseEcho]

Oh, I agree. But I do believe nobody is considering how the arms and hands were probably used in nesting, incubation, and sheltering newly hatched young in adulthood. They do state their hands turn inward after all and could be held close to the body. So what better methods do archeologists think the T-rex took to keep their young, who very likely have issues in body heat self-regulation, warm and sheltered? I guess motherhood is not glamorous enough to consider that was probably their most essential use.

[@T1Oracle]

This is brilliant. I rarely see anyone considering the developmental aspects of dinosaur biology. It certainly makes more sense than anything else I've heard.

[@billhamilton2366]

They were not born but hatched. And they plays saxophone remarkably well.

[@williamoverton7775]

this goes with my theory, I think they were primarily used for nesting and shifting eggs around.

[@jdogsful]

there is Ted talk from a renegade scientist that gives legitimacy to your theory. Essentially, he explained that dinosaurs underwent metamorphosis over the course of their lives and uses radio imaging of different skull fossil to demonstrate. he gets deeper and shows that a smaller dinosaur that is named a different species is actually just an adolescent TRex. Needless to say, he is shunned by the mainstream Paleontologists of the world.

[@keilafleischbein59]

Me: "I need to sleep" My brain: "three foot buffalo wings",

[@jdranetz]

Yes! And perhaps barbeque, too. The ribs could feed the Flintsones.

[@samiamrg7]

Try Ostrich wings.

[@squidkiller1022]

Aw, now I’m sad cuz I can’t get any hot wings.... :(

[@tylnozcn27]

Rex wings

[@keilafleischbein59]

@Oishi Onigiri both, for different reasons. The mouth to prevent getting sick, the gills to prevent transmission.

[@jones0618]

Stuff really fascinates me. Its a FACT that dinosaurs roamed the earth before us. We can see, feels, and study their bones. Amazing. Makes you wonder how they got there in the first place. Omg. What is life???

[@geneeveela7662]

Right dawg

[@fwobebe5164]

Giant king of all beasts has adorable little baby arms.

[@Iritis-]

Honestly, I've always assumed the reason they have tiny arms was something similar to how a lot of ratites have wings despite being flightless birds. Just a latent evolutionary holdover that was never fully breed out as they moved past the need for forelimbs.

[@droose5158]

That's what I thought of too birds they remind me of birds like ostriches where the wings formed into arms. But that's just me

[@queencerseilannister3519]

@@droose5158 I agree!

[@droose5158]

I think the yutyrannus would have been somewhere in the middle if the theory were true

[@michaelstylezz3870]

They had wings…. They were dragons

[@droose5158]

@@michaelstylezz3870 well the young ones supposedly had feathers on their entire body and lost them as they got older and yuty had feathers full grown So the idea that they were in a process of evolution is Def not far fetched that at some point these were wings that evolved into some kind of almost useless arms

[@flaviusclaudius7510]

Tyrannosaurs don't have very tiny arms. They have big arms, but enormous everything else!

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Indeed! To a Tyrannosaurus, their arms were miniscule.

[@kaalen24]

Good point. Nothing about a T-Rex is unimpressive. They were such a robust and thick animal. Compared to every other theropod, they look like a giant bulldog. Robust is the best way I can put it.

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

They weren't much for fisticuffs(?), but I think one could probably punch out any boxer.

[@magik97]

Lol

[@thehoodedteddy1335]

That’s a new level of understanding

[@xylonious8401]

This is the first vid ive ever watched of you and its pretty good. Nice and informative and interesting. 👍

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Thank you! I'm glad this video is bringing more people here. More videos coming soon!

[@oscarlee.mp3]

probs wings or something

[@Arielelian]

I'd say they were primarily defensive to protect against "center of gravity" attacks. Its chest area is the most exposed area and likely where other T-Rexes would target, trying to get underneath for a toss. These were likely used more like "hooks" to maintain stability should any creature manage to get underneath them.

[@neotower420]

hooks is a good way to imagine it, a lot if predators utilized that kind of sickle claw.

[@MrXinhope]

)

[@itsjustavi]

t rex ju jitsu under hooks? sounds legit

[@Boris82]

Nah, already too late by that time

[@Arielelian]

As an addition, those arms may also have been used as “clamp hooks” to stay on top of prey. The T-Rex primary attack is with its massive jaws. Once the jaws lock on, the T-Rex likely then used its body weight to hold the prey down (much like big cats do). Once the chest is pressed down on the prey, the arms then clamp down to secure the prey. This would explain the need for strength in the arms, while not needing the reach.

[@creepycassette]

Theories: -Holding during “mating” -helping to get up after lying down -holding down prey before biting -not used at all but just a leftover thing which would have disappeared with enough time. Much like the humans vestigial tail.

[@abyssinia4ever]

Question: has their ever been a bipedal land animal without arms?

[@siyacer]

@@abyssinia4ever moa

[@atomic_wait]

@@abyssinia4ever I think there are some dinosaur species where the forearms were reduced to the point where just a single finger protrudes from the torso: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linhenykus?wprov=sfla1 I'm not sure about bipedal dinosaurs with no externally visible forelimbs, though.

[@cryodrakonboreas8628]

The Moa

[@ivanbaresic7612]

H is hands will disappear how will he then do all of the above ....

[@joeduncan8011]

I open the youtube app on my phone specifically for this kind of content. I subscribed immediately

[@LexiIsSoStrong]

I always kinda thought T-rex arms were actually wings like an emu but now that I look at it ....Isn't it kinda of similar to a kangaroo?🦘🦖🦘🦖 Short arms, strong thick legs and long thick tail? They did say that the leg could be in more of a squat position so what if they were more upright? I think they look kinda similar but I know fuck all about dinosaurs 😅

[@Donovarkhallum]

Yeah depictions of trex always got me scratching my head on their center of gravity

[@daka3785]

AWWW HELLL NO- IMAGINE A FUCING T REX HOPPING AT YOUR HELPLESS ASS- no

[@4kdefinition70]

Oh imagine if t rex hopped around like a kangaroo

[@B121AN1]

Everyone: Haha, Trex have small hands Carnotaurus: Silently walk away

[@bkjeong4302]

Majiungasaurus; At least you have long legs....

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

They used their arms, to flex on Abelisaurs.

[@imbored3416]

Lmao nice

[@anotherrandomtexan25]

The real APEX predator move! 💪💪

[@vanglhun8550]

While Alvarezsaurs would show the middle finger

[@christopherandrew2629]

And carnotaurus

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

@@christopherandrew2629 carnotaurus is a abelisaur

[@GinervaWeasleyPotter]

Finally! Someone asking the REAL questions

[@christianaguilar7201]

“Hi would you like to talk to me about dinosaurs? No?” *hangs up phone, crosses out name in phone book* *redials* “Hi, would YOU like to talk to me about dinosaurs?” 🤣🤣

[@morrzan4547]

It's simple, homie spent all his evolution points on his big chompers and had none left for arms.

[@cjvaye99]

dummy should of saved some of the sliders for arms but he used it all on teeth and jaw muscles

[@Advancedgod]

Has the idea that the arms served a display purpose ever been suggested? I.e., they grew small to facilitate the huge jaw (natural selection), but remained strong and useable in sexual selection. Many contemporary birds exhibit behaviours that are wasteful from a pure survival perspective and for that reason selected for sexually. You could imagine that maybe the arms had bright coloration like red, and kind of display to potential mates "Yeah my arms are so tiny and they can afford to be because I have this massive murdering jaw."

[@curts7801]

Especially considering that most of the animal’s body was covered in scales, the presence of brilliant display feathers would be increasingly more apparent. Then shed them at the close of each breeding season to aid in hunting again. It’s not the worst idea ever.

[@TheLiamis]

Best theory so far.

[@bobbymobay]

I agree with the sexual selection. Consider Kangaroos who have extremely muscular arms, and Cobras who during selection battle for mating rites without venom. Suppose the arms were for some sort of rutting, similar to Bovines, charging and pushing for dominance but not a fatality? Neck to neck, they could not bite but the arms could slash until one "bull" would concede defeat?

[@kennethsatria6607]

@@bobbymobay They do have evidence of face biting so maybe its a bit more violent, though outright battling to the death over mates considering the power behind the jaws makes it unlikely, maybe the bites occur when fights escalate and would stop around then to avoid fatality. I always liked the idea rexes could push against one another in a sumo stance like a godzilla movie.

[@BoogieWoogi]

I saw a video talking about that theory applied to Carnotaurus. Since their arms are essentially nubs, them being brightly colored could’ve been used for a mix of sexual selection and general communication, like a flightless bird flapping it’s wings in order to convey a message

[@cosmo9925]

The mating theory is interesting, I never thought of that. My guess would be that they used them for dissection of prey. Their mouth is pretty big and I’d imagine they couldn’t manipulate prey with much accuracy, so I’m guessing they used the arms to pull things off or out of a carcass to make eating quicker and easier. They’d want to eat quickly because they’d be more exposed since it doesn’t look like they would take prey home to safety, they probably just eat prey where it fell and leave what they didn’t eat. That would explain why they’re strong, since they would likely need to pull out big muscles to eat or break bones like the ribs to get to a lot of the edible stuff, and if they’re already up close to the animal to eat it, the arms don’t need to be long. I could also see them as a deterrent, if anything was going to attack them from the front, the chest and neck would be the obvious targets, so maybe the arms were there to deter an attack because they were likely still strong and could badly wound something that managed to get past the jaws. I think they were used for multiple things rather than just one purpose.

[@khazms]

I wonder.. were they smart enough to do that.

[@Lowlandlord]

So, there is evidence that they could manipulate prey pretty decently, in that there is evidence of prey that had it's meat scraped off the bone, and then those bones flipped over, and scraped again. The front teeth were specifically good at scraping, and of a slightly different style than the side teeth, it's a whole thing. We can tell the specifics of this incident because we can tell the direction they were scraped and the the specific dental profile matched on both sides, so clearly only the top front teeth were in use, not the top and bottom teeth. Something like that anyways. Also worth mentioning a bit of a joke about different academic fields. When an anthropologist or archaeologist encounters something they can't adequately explain, they say it has ritualistic purposes. When a zoologist encounters something they can't adequately explain, they say it has mating purposes.

[@zachearley9673]

Loved the vid!

[@daitsy2476]

It's amazing how big creatures once were on earth, I can only imagine some of the weird creatures that currently exist on unknown planets they'd probably seem like monsters to us.

[@GothicDragonX]

Earth's creatures are foreign and alien even to us, especially underwater creatures. That alone is scary enough to imagine what other planet would hold for creatures anatomy. Maybe would be similar to earth, just heavily adopted to survive the planet's atmosphere.

[@rhysgoodman7628]

@@GothicDragonX like one of Jupiter’s moons (forgot which one) was discovered to have liquid water heated by geysers. Very, very possible for bacteria to be there, and maybe even proper creatures. Actually, quite likely.

[@lemonhoarder3054]

@@rhysgoodman7628 Europa?

[@rhysgoodman7628]

@@lemonhoarder3054 indeed.

[@NightmareCourtPictures]

If you look up a computer Scientist named Stephan Wolfram, he has a fundamental theory of everything (that i believe really is the true theory of everything) that posits that the universe is fundamentally computational (like a giant Turing machine) With that theory, comes the idea that things in the world build themselves based on exploring the number of possible configurations that can exist. Wolfram asserts that, even though life evolved on planet Earth by way of carbon, there may be planets where life does not come from just carbon...because the axiom systems that can be built from more elementary constituents can give different branches of possible higher level constituents... Like for example, you can imagine that if complex molecules could be made from Gold atomic interactions, complex enough for self assembly, than systems that emerges from those configurations would be based on those physical properties...and those systems might be complex enough to be considered alive. So Wolfram's theory points to the idea that life maybe be not just alien...but possibly unrecognizable as what we think of as "life." Because these configurations might not even be...organic in any real sense. They might be complex and feature intelligence...but we might not be able to even recognize it as intelligence that we can figure out. You can imagine an example like how clouds move in the atmosphere and generate patterns. We don't attribute the weather as being intelligent or conscious, but it is doing something that is complex.

[@robertvanhouten1able]

Imagine not having a bucket of chicken wings but having a bucket of t-rex wings... it sounds sooo delicious. The forbidden wings

[@sunscreen193]

what kind of sauce would you dip them in?

[@NurseOrysia1]

I literally consume an entire bottle of zesty Italian dressing daily, assuming that the bucket of t-rex wings are fried, it probably wouldn't be the best combination but YOLO

[@sunscreen193]

@@NurseOrysia1 or it could be the greatest thing ever.

[@samiamrg7]

Do they sell ostrich wings anywhere? 🧐

[@harbinger7368]

They would be the size a an actual chicken

[@rohankishibe5465]

It’s so cool seeing artists different depictions of a Tyrannosaurus rex

[@SurrogateActivities]

Bite -> Hold prey down with weight -> Rip with claws -> Prey bleeds out -> Bite into claw-ripped wound Although in this case it would be better to have sharper claws

[@novaro7846]

They use them to mock Carnotaurus as a further form of intimidation.

[@dinamosflams]

At least carbotaurus have horns

[@someone5685]

@@dinamosflams carnotaurus*

[@spinerend]

@@someone5685 carbo loading

[@asmodai2025]

Correction, *abelisaurids in general.

[@Harrier42861]

I think study of tyrannosaur ontogeny has been highly suggestive that their arms were more important to juvenile and "teenage" tyrannosaurs, since they didn't yet have the massively powerful bites of adults - in fact, if Jane and the Cleveland skull are juvenile T. Rex as suspected, they're overall a lot more gracile, even proportionately, than adults. Young tyrannosaurs seem to be built to almost hunt like dromaeosaurs, seeing as their proportions look built for running, not marathon walking like adults. (Again, all this assumes that the Jane is a juvenile T. Rex hypothesis is valid - she's almost definitely a juvenile *something*, at any rate)

[@kekaharris6618]

Then why do crocks not habe longer legs when young? I dnt think this is true the animal is wise to prey size and would no were and what to hunt and for all we know they were never hunting young they may have been rasied untill there at least adolescents we dnt know so we 😂

[@riley8429]

It makes sense. They didn’t have genetic encoding the birds they left behind do that helps them walk and shit n be a being

[@Harrier42861]

@@kekaharris6618 Crocs aren't dinosaurs, first off. While they are archosaurs, they are more distantly related than birds. Secondly, we have direct evidence of other dinosaurs changing pretty radically in proportions as they grow up, and those other dinosaurs are more closely related to tyrannosaurs than crocs (See, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus). Further it's increasingly better supported that Jane is a juvenile T. Rex, making nanotyrannus an invalid genus, and her arms are, proportionally, long enough to be pretty useful indeed - they're similar relative to her body to Utahraptor, which uncontroversially used its arms for stuff. These other dinosaurs mentioned above look so different as juveniles that the juveniles and subadults were thought to be entirely different species until relatively recently.

[@johnhackett6332]

Again, *the dominant reason* the *Tyrannosaurs' Forelimbs* remained useful was because it served as a means of counterbalance; to revector itself while walking, bending down to eat, or even in combat, etc. Another way to think of it: imagine walking on a beam, and how as humans we use our arms to act as a stabilizer or counterbalance. rph

[@A_name_is_a_name]

Y’all think about this. A T-Rex with long arms. That’s crazy.

[@galahad626]

i always assumed they used their arms for more gentle tasks like fixing the eggs in their nest into the best spot of just general things that have to do with their eggs

[@yaradotexe]

i never looked at arms so much, with so much concentration. looking at them feels like saying the same words over and over again

[@picksalot1]

Obviously, they were used for tickling. Everyone enjoys a good laugh. 😂

[@indraservo5764]

That's actually one of top theories, male t-rex tickle female ones to calm them down during copulation

[@NurseOrysia1]

@BrokenTVshow I'm hoping that you are trolling right now-

[@riyadriyad5911]

@@NurseOrysia1 everything is possible...

[@Ivair.Alcantara]

They could be used to move the eggs around, in a electric hatcher the eggs are rolled every one hour, the chicken also move they eggs once in a while so the embryo don't stay in just one position, with they massive feet they could break the eggs, so the arms could be useful for that.

[@jamescobrien]

T-Rex had four legs. They never had any proof of the two stubbs, ever. They finally found a complete T-Rex fossil in 2020 and it had four legs.

[@Gamingraptorstudios]

@@jamescobrien can you link an article, I'd love to read more

[@kaikart123]

@@jamescobrien source, my boy

[@adoboflakes8473]

@@jamescobrien If you're gonna drop bombshells like that at least link the source so people can read it.

[@iranoutofnames123]

@@jamescobrien sorry man we cant read the "Trust me bro" source.

[@maynaise2300]

It’s amazing that we have mostly all the same parts! These are our ancestors that paved the way for DNA & intelligence over millions of years, basically built our minds, and our bodies!

[@TripleJAquatics]

Hugs....they were used for hugs. Tight heartwarming cuddly hugs.

[@carldeithorn3450]

Since it seems that a wide variety of dinosaurs did indeed have feathers, I've often wondered if maybe the T-Rex might have possessed a set of display feathers of some kind, attached to those little arms. Perhaps utilized by males for courtship purposes, to impress the ladies. Also, possibly to intimidate, and warn away other males as well, as an alternative to risky physical altercations. I could be wrong, but if I'm right, then those feathers could've conceivably been longer than the arms, themselves. On the males, they could've been longer, and more colorful, and the extensive musculature of those arms could've actually been used to tighten, and relax, the quills in order to cause those feathers to open, and fan out dramatically. Arm position would've almost certainly played a role in that as well. Look at how modern birds behave. It seems totally reasonable to me that T-Rex males may well have had a complex courtship ritual that involved (their version of) dancing, and dramatic, and colorful display, in order to win a mate. Like the Birds of Paradise. If I'm right, then that would mean that those tiny, little arms were not useless, or vestigial at all, and actually DID serve a purpose. Who knows? Just a thought. CHEERS! 🍻✌

[@winkletoogan]

my god this is genius

[@l95027]

Very good theory, not everything about dinosaurs has to be primal and savage like

[@erismason3441]

I think scaley skin impressions have been found with T-Rex skeletons, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have arm feathers. Just probably not full body feathers. Probably.

[@nekrataali]

Also, think of how fucking scary that would be as T-Rex prey. All of a sudden, this ginormous apex predator charges out from the jungle at 40 miles an hour, spreading its wings in a colorful display. If you're something like a triceratops, do you stand your ground against this thing twice as wide as you? Or do you turn tail and run?

[@carldeithorn3450]

@@nekrataali, That's a good point! I hadn't even considered the possible effect, or usefulness, of that kind of display, when used upon prey animals. They might've even been able to utilize it to herd groups of animals in the direction they wanted. Like, towards other, larger members of their family group, laying in wait, to ambush whatever is being driven their way. 🍻✌

[@redactedbananas]

They should study smaller specimens, because they would have needed to hunt when they were smaller and their jaws wouldn't have been the superior weapon it is when they grow large. It seems the most plausible explanation to me.

[@fubene5495]

Thats way nanotyranus has longer arms than adult rexies, and i bet the younger the rex, the longer the arms, till the jaw becomes wide and strong the dinos need more help to finish the job, and a good pair of arms is a wise choice.

[@redactedbananas]

@@fubene5495 seems plausible. Maybe they built nests? Maybe they used them to scratch each other's backs, literally. 😅

[@svonasek]

Totally agree and also with Jarry! As we know that Theropod Dinosaurs changes their shape and also their feeding system during livetime dramatically - it would make sense that in the first decade or so the arms are fitting perfekt to their very much smaller prey and it seems at this age the arms also appears more "proportional" to the animal. Due to lack of fossiles of young T-Rex there is of course a focus on the fully grown animal in their last years. Maybe a hormon switches off the growing of the arms in a certain age as they are useless now for a 6 ton, 11 m killing machine with a jaw full of banana size teeths! ;)

[@katoshiku7367]

@@fubene5495 Nanotyrannus? That thing doesn't exist and has been proved to be a hoax. Unless you mean a juvenile T. rex.

[@Sazuyu]

Smaller dinosaurs just eat fish and bugs

[@Pokefv19]

This is so interesting

[@justdna4385]

I remember seeing the original t-rex display as a child in the early 1990s, it still looked the same as the picture you used.

[@douglasgorde5823]

Tyrannosaurs: *famous for having tiny arms* Abelisaurs: Am I a joke to you?

[@jakeodell4584]

@La Sirène Rouge Moa bird: what even is an arm?

[@vintageman91]

Abelisaurs didnt even have elbows.

[@jakeodell4584]

@@vintageman91 They did have elbows, they just could not move them.

[@aaasht2606]

Wow wtf is this power move race lol

[@carpediemarts705]

While the back legs are obviously huge, maybe this creature was more of a swimmer than a walker. The world was a lot wetter and a lot of their diet swam. Big tail like an alligator was a propeller. Big back feet like a duck's were paddles. No, no idea what the front were for. Just the perspective that they might have swam as much as they stood.

[@bbqchipspls]

Carnotaurus: "I wish MY arms were that long!"

[@JesusCHRISTler]

i honestly don’t know why i made them other than for comedic relief

[@Jesus____]

yeah same

[@ralphzoontjens]

The chest defense, that makes sense. They're probably still as big as a well-trained man's arms. Also, you should try to get up without using your arms. Without having anything near the chest, you're going to get nowhere (at least I didn't). Third thing I can think of is carrying a small object such as an egg.

[@thegek345]

ok im now going to imagine trexs fighting by slapping each other with their arms like penguins

[@luciidusal]

*penguin squawking noises while they fight to the death*

[@xxportalxx.]

Lol missed a perfectly good opportunity to reference the rex in toy story!

[@dinamosflams]

Now I AM imagening them using their tails and mouth to fight. It is brutal

[@blackcaiman9512]

The most plausible theory seems to be the mating one, because using the powerful jaws to hold onto a mate might cause significant damage as compared to using thr tiny arms. Also they couldve served a purpose in the juvenile phase, where the bite would not have been as powerful, so the arms couldve played a role in survival during those younger ages.

[@mahmoudanas6220]

Thank you I was saying it for ages Also I have a theory that they were like peacocks they would flex there arms and the one with the strongest gets the females

[@gudnisnaer8171]

@@mahmoudanas6220 that actually makes sense now that im thinking about it. Mating rituals and even the creation of nests would be a very logical reason for such limbs

[@johnhackett6332]

Again, *the dominant reason* the *Tyrannosaurs' Forelimbs* remained useful was because it served as a means of counterbalance; to revector itself while walking, bending down to eat, or even in combat, etc. Another way to think of it: imagine walking on a beam, and how as humans we use our arms to act as a stabilizer or counterbalance. rph

[@pennypillow4445]

'the jaw is for killing, the legs are for running, the arms are for snoo snoo'

[@sunglowwolf-7917]

@@johnhackett6332 yea I had the same theory as well

[@WillHellmm]

We love Sue - from Chicago

[@chasesshop2991]

There’s lots of studies that say that if you flip the arms around they look just like a bird, and being that the T. rex was just a scavenger, it was just like an ostrich, with more teeth

[@Canoby]

I'm listening to these theories on what Tyrannosaur's forelimbs were actually used for, and they really don't sound especially contradictory. There's no reason not to assume they weren't used for a variety of purposes, though admittedly limited in flexibility and by their scale to the rest of the dinosaur

[@Blackgremlin0024]

What if they were for holding on while mating

[@vitorferreira6104]

I became curious because of the new Jurassic World trailer and after reading/watching a ton of articles the conclusion I got is that they didn't really need it. They can use the arm for some stuff (mating, slashing etc), but that's it. In the end, it's even more funny knowing that in my opinion.

[@reeseprince8]

Same reason why chickens have wings. for fuck all

[@thetreeking8001]

@@reeseprince8 chickens can actually get pretty high with their wings. They aren’t going to be flying far but they can easily jump/fly into a tree

[@reeseprince8]

@@thetreeking8001 jump not fly

[@superiusnoobus1305]

obviously the T-rex has small arms because they skipped arm day

[@superiusnoobus1305]

@Cameron Doerksen theyre legs are massive

[@pluggothesluggo5509]

and jaw day

[@thatonebab7351]

just like the "biceps are bourgeoise" dude

[@SQUAD012]

It was a trend back then to focus on the lower part of the body.

[@diazzsama]

They thought they were insta thot or something 🤷‍♂️

[@PorkChopBatter]

It’s odd to see how many previous illustrations of T-rex’s were “shrinkwrapped”, sunken eyes etc. Even a lot of modern day illustrations do this. I think when you see more accurately drawn t-rex’s their little arms look even funnier and cute hahaha.

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Indeed! They were very bulky and well-muscled animals, even among other Tyrannosaurines. Abelisaurs are even wackier.

[@vertoatrum]

I think their arms are either the remains of wings or winglike appendages from previously in their evolution OR they're like kangaroo arms and aid mostly in mating, balance while walking, and showing who's boss/the biggest in the pack (if they had one)

[@kirya7177]

Thank you a lot for writing artist's names when showing their art. I discovered a lot of really talented people just from this video. I myself always believed that they simply didn't need to use them, considering how strong their jaws and legs are

[@whitedragoness23]

I agree, it would slowly disappear like how snakes lost their limbs and was just left over from evolutional process of losing what it doesn’t need

[@fredmiller4110]

Tending eggs. They have to be rolled every so often. Jaws too strong feet to big. Miniature arms just perfect.

[@johnhackett6332]

Again, *the dominant reason* the *Tyrannosaurs' Forelimbs* remained useful was because it served as a means of counterbalance; to revector itself while walking, bending down to eat, or even in combat, etc. Another way to think of it: imagine walking on a beam, and how as humans we use our arms to act as a stabilizer or counterbalance. rph

[@joshriley2936]

Man, what I wouldn't give to have a window to look at the past with. I wanna see what these looked like and how they moved, and what kind of environment they lived in.

[@johnhackett6332]

Again, *the dominant reason* the *Tyrannosaurs' Forelimbs* remained useful was because it served as a means of counterbalance; to revector itself while walking, bending down to eat, or even in combat, etc. Another way to think of it: imagine walking on a beam, and how as humans we use our arms to act as a stabilizer or counterbalance. rph

[@joshriley2936]

@@johnhackett6332 I'm not talking about the arms in particular anymore, I'm just saying I wanna see it happen with a live specimen. I wanna see with my own eyes what they looked like when they were alive just because that would be amazing.

[@pablotano]

Time travel is the dream of many :) I would die tomorrow if I had the possibility to go back and watch these beasts live in action!

[@DavontheViper]

I wanna see all thos huge creatures, just walking around, hunting, mating, fighting... someone invent visual time travel pls.

[@booqrdoit9138]

@@pablotano unfortunately, time travel is more than likely impossible, if not highly regulated. The simple concept of us thinking of time travel makes it impossible. If you told yourself and your descendants to come back to now whenever time travel was possible to let you know it can happen, you'd be talking to one of your progeny right now

[@FlyingPhoenix813]

They were evolving to the final evolution. The perfect being in every way. The crab.

[@Cherry.404]

Now this is the type of content I’m searching for. Finally some good fucking food

[@alioramus1637]

The tyrannosauridae is my favorite family of theropods. Everything about them scream evolutionary success.

[@bri1085]

Including being, well you know, while a s different line of therapods are still around

[@Birdman32]

Well except their arms.. 😆

[@SaitoSite]

@@Birdman32 Actually, having large arms would weigh them down and make it impossible to stand upright with their gigantic heads. So uh, nah, still peak performance.

[@rahowherox1177]

Their extinction suggests otherwise.

[@thatonekid6677]

@@rahowherox1177 a large line of therapods are still alive today, in birds! their basic body plan is still reflected in their skeletons :)

[@captainsinclair7954]

I subscribe more to the notion that the arms are a genetic leftover from a species that the Tyrannosaur had evolved from. This is much like how Whales have what can only be described as Hand and Feet bones in their fins and tail respectively despite being aquatic creatures. Those arms could’ve been more versatile back when the predecessor species existed, being used for all the things listed in the above video. However, as time passed, the Tyrannosaur decided to prioritize its fighting/hunting into its jaw. By the Late Cretaceous period, those arms could only be used for mating.

[@kimjongil5200]

That would make total sense. And if we discovered whale fossils for the first time we'd be like, why would an aquatic creature have hands and feet? How would it swim?

[@rodneywallace4958]

Concur. They were evolving until dinosaurs were wiped out.

[@Tyleras]

Have wings been disproven?

[@gentlemancharmander4411]

Lol, yeah man, t Rex’s just decided to get better jaws in exchange for small arms. I can’t believe people unironically believe evolution when it says ridiculous things like that.

[@joshuanewell4316]

@@gentlemancharmander4411 they didn’t decide, maybe learn how evolution works before criticizing it. It was just not a hinderance to have smaller and smaller arms due to all of their other extremely powerful attributes.

[@freddiepitts7611]

"if you're happy and you know it clap your hands!" "Sod off Tim!"

[@aroccoification]

3:15 this when starts actually talking about the use of t-rex arms

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

There is always a good reason to learn more about the arms of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the King of the Tyrant Lizards (Birds).

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Definitely!

[@decimation9780]

More of an inbetween of the two animal species, because that isn’t the angriest giant turkey I’ve ever seen. That title belongs to Therizinosaurus.

[@likira111]

@Vela S Hip bones man

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

@Vela S Cry harder

[@GabagoolFool]

Aka mark zuckerborg

[@alexandercolefield9523]

The image of a T-rex loafing like a cat made my morning

[@SciHeartJourney]

My theory: the arms are used to help it pull the food AWAY from it's mouth, tearing it apart. Newton's Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposing action. So the jaws do most of the work, but they can't quite bite THROUGH their prey. Their arms help to pull apart the prey. Without them, they it's probably harder to eat since there's not much force for the T-Rex jaws to pull against, other than the prey's own body weight.

[@XxDeathxX509]

I honestly think that when they eventually evolved into the tyrannosaur, it’s previous evolution had a use for these that it’s current and final form did not so it just stayed there as a product of its previous form that it now has no use for. Same thing with us and the little pink flesh poking out of either side of our eyes. It once had a use back in the wild I honestly forgot what for but as we evolved to be completely independent to survivability we sort of just kept them there. I may be wrong but I think it may have even covered our entire eye when we blink similar to Indy from jurrasic world, supposedly to see better. That’s a very big stretch but it’s been so long since I’ve listened to that fact

[@dafttool]

I’m pretty sure those forearms were essentially useless for helping to get up. But I bet those little arms were powerful when needed, holding prey or mates. Moles have short arms too, but the bone structure & muscle attachments greatly facilitate making their arms quite powerful. Those T. rex forearm bones appear to have some bulk to them to just be vestigial.

[@Riceball01]

I agree. I remember seeing a picture in an old book on dinosaurs that I had as a kid that showed an Allosaur grabbing an Iguanodont with its arms while biting down on its neck. I can imagine a T. rex (and other Tyrannosaurs) doing something similar with Hadrosaurs. I could see them leading with their head and taking a big bite out of a Hadrosaur to cripple or at least slow it down and it would then close in, grab a hold with its arms and deal a killing bite.

[@fubene5495]

To hold something with your arms, you need to be able to move them, do sharks use their fins to hold their prey? Big jaws doesnt need arms ;), moles arms have a hard work to do, so they need that power. Small vestigial features always means the need of invest growing resources in other places, with more time to evolve, rexies will transform all the bone and muscle from the arms and shoulders in just pure chest muscle to help the head compensate the tail, yes, not the tail compensating the head, cause at the time they become extinct the tail was compensating both the weight of the head and upper body, they could have also evolved in a thinner tail dino and lose almost all the upperbody structure so the tail keeps being the balancing part of the body (as it usually is) but it ill make them weaker maybe... Take of all the flesh, muscle and bone attached to the small bulky arms and your T-Rex standard will go back to the 1900 to be accurate ;)

[@optimallyproudjoestarboi3061]

@@Riceball01 same. I can also imagine a Rex gripping a Trike's back while spontaneously crunching at its now exposed neck tbh.

[@kickarselprogamer368]

Since therapod palms faced, inwards, that may not have been possible

[@Ren505nm]

Walking gators.😲👍

[@Ankylosaurus_mangiventris]

Thanks for featuring me in today’s video, Henry!

[@bisiilki]

That picture of the t rex babies is so cute

[@adamlewis3145]

Balance for one thing. I also think it's to aid in weight shifting when pushing themselves up from the stomach position, or throwing their weight to roll over.

[@EnriqueHernandez-tq5wq]

Those were either: 1) used as toothpicks (taking into account the gap between the beast's teeth and the frequent times chunks of meat could have stuck there); 2) (more hypothetical) they were covered with fancy feathers and swung in unknown ways to display for mating.

[@lo0ksik]

Or useless

[@S.Ghosh_221]

I also had a plummage for mate attraction hypothesis.

[@S.Ghosh_221]

I have another hypothesis : These small hands could also have been used for rolling and grabbing their eggs.

[@DVankeuren]

@@lo0ksik nature rarely applies useless things.

[@rodshop5897]

Bioengineering studies have shown that they could not reach their mouths with those arms.

[@hammer-fn7gm]

Aliens breed them that way because they liked to eat the hind quarters.

[@chickentender911]

Their little arms are supposed to look like ostrich wings which concludes that dinosaurs do actually have feathers.

[@CrimxSun]

When he said the arms could've been used to hold it's prey, i started laughing harder than i should. 😂😂😂😂

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

One of the more out there ones, lol.

[@curiousuranus810]

Cow tipping! Clearly they were used to flick the Vs at each other.

[@derekbauer2125]

“Flick the Vs” that is amazing

[@dasji2]

I like to imagine they use there arms to slap each other during mating season. Like they only just used there arms. Trying to slap each other with there little arms. Hilarious.

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Potentially! It would be quite the funny thing to witness.

[@optimallyproudjoestarboi3061]

@@HenrythePaleoGuy indeed. And since their arms were also quite muscular, the force of the slap would be astounding lol!

[@noa.dnd.6325]

I read a theory that since a lot of dinosaurs had feathers instead of scales, if you turn the arms backwards, it would make more sense for their tiny arms to be wings. Cool idea.

[@definitelydevin1]

I surprisingly agree with that

[@Lowlandlord]

Well, we know it for a fact because we have fossil evidence of dinosaurs with feathers intact, namely from a specific formation in China. We can even tell some of the colours. Knowing that, we also know that there is evidence of feathers in the bones themselves, the feathers leave little holes in the bone. Scales and feathers are also a related thing, the scales on a birb's foot are a type of feather. Also, if you compare the bones of a therapod arm and a birb arm, they work out to be similar in a number of ways, no need to put anything backwards. Partially because birbs ARE therapods, the family of dinosaurs that raptors and tyrannosaurs are in. There is evidence birbs were around at the time of the extinction actually, and there is a theory that raptors were in fact within the birb group within the therapods, but we don't have enough evidence to really decide that. So, picture this, bend your elbow so that your thumb and top of your wrist is near your shoulder. Then turn your wrist down so that your fingers point towards the ground. Bit of a zed shape. That is how a birb's wing is, at least for the parrot behind me and every chicken, goose, duck, or turkey I have eaten. That is also not too far from how a t-rex arm is, different wrist assembly that limits the range of motion and the ability to have the hands with any facing aside from clapping, but broadly there.

[@packletackle9047]

The world is on the brink of war and here I am learning about t-rex arms

[@lucasstokes503]

You mentioned them having the strength to carry a deer. I've heard before that T-Rex's likely scavenged as well as hunted. If they were to carry off a piece off a meat after being scared away from a carcass by a rival or aggressive herbivore, I see no reason why it couldn't use its arms as well as its mouth. Idk the real practicality of that.

[@therealbadbob2201]

I know the muscle attachment points on the arms indicates they were very strong, your theory makes s lot of sense.

[@NickMajorYouTube]

They were for bringing a meal to-go LOL. but they could more easily take a bigger to-go portion using their jaws and still breathe through their nose

[@lucasstokes503]

@@NickMajorKZbin see that's what I always pictured them doing but what if they were carrying a sneaky side dish as well you know, like if it's feasible then why not I guess. Also it would leave them able to keep something if they had to drop what's in their mouth to attack or defend. I truly don't know and am not qualified to talk about it further but it's interesting.

[@NameRedacted0]

@@lucasstokes503 If we bring the idea of a singular, immobile nest, into the conversation, bringing back food for the young who are a ways off from being able to hunt on their own makes sense.

[@glenndiddy]

Im not sure about calling that strong though, a deer is like a rat to a human. If that's all they can lift aren't those arms just useless?

[@Giraldtec]

The theory that their usefulness would change with age could make sense, triceratops go through several phases in their cranial bones, so distinct between each other that paleontologists thought they were different species..

[@ericmakaveli9433]

I always wondered where their "mating objects" were present everytime they were in movies, painted, drawn, etc..

[@rasmokey4]

The arms on T. REX were used to help get it upright from a croucing (sleeping) position.

[@sethlevine8508]

Think about it. Logically, they couldn't use them in the thought process of evolution. I personally like the theory that they were more ostrich like. Bent the opposite way with feathers rather than scales.

[@WhatEver-ys4oe]

I feel that too, makes a lot of sense after discovering that some actually had feathers/proto-feathers (reason being that when excavating they dgaf about anything other than the bones, thus destroying all the surrounding possibly surrounding tissues, etc...)

[@brookepritt8293]

this !!!

[@thee8797]

Yea it makes sense to me too, especially considering they’re the chickens of the prehistoric age

[@Lowlandlord]

Feathers and scales are arguably sort of the same thing, kinda. The scales on birb (which are therapods themselves), specifically on their feet, are a sort of specialized feather, in addition to the two types we normally think about.

[@nica2411]

Excellent video. It made me imagine a person going back in time to see a T-Rex only to realize that our funny caricature of their 'useless arms' is nothing compared to the potential hellish reality of the tyrannosaurus using these arms to rip and slash an animal apart.

[@jeffreysanders612]

Just imagine the absolute terror of a Trex having arms that visually match the rest of their bodies

[@ndog0639]

Less terrifying when it immediately faceplants because it's too front-heavy

[@Workof]

Is it possible the arms had colorful (proto)feathers that were used for display and mating rituals?

[@edible0pig]

6:15 A well known Tyrannosaur Rexpert. :D

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Pun not intended but great nonetheless.

[@thegreenfireball897]

6:13

[@primrosevale1995]

9:25 I wanna know the story behind this piece of art. Did it adopt the baby Triceratops?

[@diemilch555]

Omg I had to go back a few times to even spot it. That's adorable!

[@amosvrana6326]

Holding on it as a snack for later

[@nerobernardino88]

Growing your food.

[@Hidoom1728]

@@amosvrana6326 lmao

[@BendyStraws]

“Peace among worlds”

[@craigthescott5074]

I heard someplace they used their arms to hold on for mating ?

[@abloogywoogywoo]

They had feathers, and it's for their little wings, used mainly for attracting mates, warning off rivals.

[@LosRiji]

How they'll taste tho

[@kiraflint2023]

Maybe they were just in the middle of evolution to lose their arms cause they were uneeded.

[@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent]

No I don't think so given that the Arms technically were still in use of some form. The Carno's on the other hand were clearly starting to lose theres and would more correctly be seen as in the middle of evolution of losing them.

[@Scyllax]

Like a huge flightless bird

[@Harrier42861]

@@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent I agree, based mostly on the fact that Rex retained functional hands.

[@turtlemaster2.025]

I heard from some scientist though that the arms were merely used for nothing except to stretch other T-Rexs like their mates kinda like physical intimacy

[@SunLeaf-tp7hv]

They have a big head and tiny arms. Just not sure how well the plan was thought through... Master.