Dinosaurs were actually "thin-osaurs"

London, June 26(ANI): Tyrannosaurus rex, the best-known predatory species, may have been far more lithe than previously thought, researchers have discovered.

In a new study, boffins have claimed that dinosaurs may have been much lighter and sleeker than earlier believed because of potential flaws in the equations used to calculate their weight, reports The Times.

"Palaeontologists have for 25 years used a statistical model to estimate the body weight of giant dinosaurs and other extraordinarily large extinct animals," said Gary Packard, from Colorado State University, whose research will appear in the Zoological Society of London's Journal of Zoology this week.

"We have found that the statistical model is seriously flawed and the giant dinosaurs probably were only about half as heavy as is generally believed," the expert added.

Up till now, dinosaurs have been shown as well-rounded, powerful animals, when they are more likely to have been skinny and muscular.

The new findings would suggest that these animals were leaner and faster, needed less food and had significant differences in lifestyle from what was previously thought. (ANI)