The Tyrannosaurus rex has a big reputation for its puny little arms, but as paleontologists dig up more of its family members, the species is grappling with some competition.
In an arm wrestle with a newly found abelisaurid, the T. rex could have actually come out on top. Its stubby, weak upper limbs likely look practically buff next to those of Koleken inakayali – a carnivorous, bipedal dinosaur whose bones were recently found preserved in Patagonia.
K. inakayali was not found with arm bones, but based on the rest of the skeleton’s proportions, it probably had similar sized arms to Carnotaurus.
With immobile elbows and only rudimentary wrist joints, these unbendable appendages would have probably flopped against their girthy chests as they ran. Not even their four digits were capable of grasping objects.
A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the end Cretaceous of Patagonia and evolutionary rates among the Ceratosauria