Scientists at UCLA have successfully measured the body temperature of Tyrannosaurus rex using fossilized teeth, discovering that the ancient predator maintained a body temperature of roughly 97 degrees Fahrenheit. This finding represents the first direct temperature measurement ever obtained for an extinct dinosaur and provides physical evidence supporting theories that tyrannosaurs possessed warm-blooded metabolisms similar to modern mammals rather than the cold-blooded physiology associated with many reptiles.
The research relied on a refined technique developed over approximately a decade at UCLA. The method analyzes microscopic chemical bonds between rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen preserved within tooth enamel. The frequency of these bonds varies with temperature—more bonds form in cooler conditions and fewer in warmer temperatures. Researchers improved the original technique to require roughly 90% less fossil material than earlier versions, allowing the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to provide small samples from two teeth belonging to a T. rex specimen in their collection.
According to UCLA geobiologist Robert Eagle, the measured temperature of 36 degrees Celsius aligns with expectations for an actively metabolic creature. This temperature falls significantly above the 28-30 degree Celsius range typical of modern cold-blooded reptiles but below the 40-43 degree Celsius temperatures common in modern birds, which are evolutionary descendants of dinosaurs. The warm-blooded metabolism would have enabled T. rex to maintain activity levels required for hunting or scavenging and generating sufficient food intake to sustain such a metabolism.
The findings also provide insight into T. rex habitat distribution. Study co-author Alessandro Chiarenza notes that paleontologists have discovered Tyrannosaurus fossils from ancient Alaska, yet fossils of cold-blooded reptiles such as lizards, turtles, and crocodiles have not been found from that region during the Cretaceous Period. The ability to internally regulate body temperature would have allowed tyrannosaurs to inhabit colder regions that would have been inhospitable to cold-blooded species, even during the generally warmer climate conditions of 66 million years ago. The research was published on Sept. 16 in Science Advances.
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