Dinosaurs Lose Weight In New Study

Dinosaurs may have been much lighter than previously believed, a new study suggests.

Dinosaurs Lose Weight

Researchers of the said study took into consideration the curves and other irregularities in the bone structure of dinosaurs when computing the prehistoric animals' weight. Their computation yielded lesser values than previous estimates.

Scientists would traditionally calculate the mass of dinosaurs based on a leg measurement, understanding the relationship between body mass and this circumference in modern animals, and scaling this up to the size of a dinosaur.

With the new approach, the researchers came up with a body mass of 25 tons for a Giraffatitan, which was estimated at 31 to 86 tons in earlier studies.

Researchers analyzed the leg bones of eight species, from the 220-gram Senegal bushbaby to the 1.2-metric-ton giraffe.

The new study was published Wednesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.