On ‘Radio Times’: What’s up with T-Rex’s little arms?

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3D rendering of Tyrannosaurus Rex (Herschel Hoffmeyer/Bigstock)

3D rendering of Tyrannosaurus Rex (Herschel Hoffmeyer/Bigstock)

Ever wonder why T-Rex’s arms were so puny? Radio Times host Marty Moss-Coane has been wondering this for a while. She took the opportunity to ask Rowan University paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara when he was in the studio on Wednesday discussing his new book, “Why Dinosaur’s Matter.”

Lacovara explained that, “to have a really big bite, you need to have big jaw muscles. To have really big jaw muscles, you need to have a really big head, which necessities a really big powerful neck.  And the muscles in the neck and the muscles in the arms compete for the same muscle attachment space in the shoulder.”

Marty also talked with Ted Daeschler, a curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, about his recent expedition to Antarctica where he was searching for 350 million-year-old fish fossils that help explain how animals made the transition from water to land.

Listen to the clip above.

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