T. rex capable of crushing and lifting a car

[Vladimír Socha]

Good day, I'd like to ask, do these two hypotheses still hold? Thank you in advance! VS.

1.) An adult specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex was likely capable of exerting a bite force of between 35 and 64 kN (kilonewtons), around ten times as great as the strongest alligator bite. Research published in 2017 indicates that Tyrannosaurus could exert a pressure of up to 431,000 pounds per square inch (3 gigapascals) with its teeth. This adaptation allowed Tyrannosaurus to drive open cracks present in bone during biting and produce fractures, giving it access to the mineral salts and marrow within the bone.

2.) According to a 2007 study, Tyrannosaurus rex and other tyrannosaurid theropods exerted extremely high bite forces, and large muscle attachments suggest that the tyrannosaurid neck was a concomitantly powerful component of the feeding apparatus. It is plausible that Tyrannosaurus rex was able to hold up to 1014 kg in its jaws well (up to 4 meters?) above the ground. T. rex would be hence theoretically capable of lifting a small car in its jaws.

References:

Meers, M. B. (2003). Maximum bite force and prey size of Tyrannosaurus rex and their relationships to the inference of feeding behavior. Historical Biology. 16 (1): 1–12.

Erickson, G. M.; Lappin, A. K.; Vliet, K. A. (2003). The ontogeny of bite-force performance in American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Journal of Zoology; The Zoological Society of London. 260 (6): 317–327.

Snively, E.; Russell, A. (2007). Craniocervical feeding dynamics of Tyrannosaurus rex. Paleobiology. 33 (4): 610-638.

Bates, K. T.; Falkingham, P. L. (2012). Estimating maximum bite performance in Tyrannosaurus rex using multi-body dynamics. Biological Letters. 8 (4): 660–664.

Bates, K. T.; Falkingham, P. L. (2018). Correction to ‘Estimating maximum bite performance in Tyrannosaurus rex using multi-body dynamics’. Biology Letters. 14 (4): 20180160.

Gignac, P. M.; Erickson, G. M. (2017). The Biomechanics Behind Extreme Osteophagy in Tyrannosaurus rex. Scientific Reports. 7. 2012 (2017).

Peterson, J. E.; Tseng, Z. J.; Brink, S. (2021). Bite force estimates in juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex based on simulated puncture marks. PeerJ. 9: e11450.

Rowe, A. J.; Snively, E. (2021). Biomechanics of juvenile tyrannosaurid mandibles and their implications for bite force The Anatomical Record. 305 (2): 373–392.

Johnson-Ransom, E.; et al. (2023). Comparative cranial biomechanics reveal that Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurids exerted relatively greater bite force than in early-diverging tyrannosauroids. The Anatomical Record. 307 (5): 1897–1917.

Wroe, S.; McHenry, C.; Thomason, J. (2005). Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Biological Sciences. 272 (1563): 619–625.

Erickson, G. M.; et al. (2012). Insights into the Ecology and Evolutionary Success of Crocodilians Revealed through Bite-Force and Tooth-Pressure Experimentation. PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e31781.

Peterson, J. E.; Daus, K. N. (2019). Feeding traces attributable to juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex offer insight into ontogenetic dietary trends. PeerJ. 7: e6573.

Glud, R.; et al. (2013). High rates of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. Nature Geoscience. 6 (4): 284–288.

Hidebumi, I.; Sadao, S. (1980). Long term creep experiment on some rocks observed over three years. Tectonophysics. 62 (3-4): 219–232.

Kanel, G. I.; et al. (2008). Effect of crystalline anisotropy on shock propagation in sapphire. AIP Conference Proceedings. 1195.

Mańkowski, P.; Krzosek, S. (2013). Compression strength of pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) from selected forest regions of Poland, part II. Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW. Forestry and Wood Technology. 83: 206–210.

Cotton, J. R.; et al. (2019). Lower rotational inertia and larger leg muscles indicate more rapid turns in tyrannosaurids than in other large theropods. PeerJ. 7: e6432.

[Eric Snively]

1.) Not sure about crushing a car, but the range of forces  (35,000-63000 N for the Stan specimen; Cost et al. 2019) at various tooth positions was carefully derived, and replicated pretty closely with diverse methods since. The potential transient pressures (~3 GPa) are a little conservative for the latest tooth reaction forces we're getting. 

Interesting to think about  "lifting" a car by closing the jaws alone. They could statically hold up the weight a car (or elephant) at those tooth positions with masses of 3.5-6.5 tonnes, and likely lift (accelerate upwards) minimum masses of 2.3-4.3 tonnes with modest effort.

2.) Yes, hoisting  a car of 1014 kg with the neck is on the low side of plausible. The assumptions in Snively and Russell (2007) were deliberately conservative. With more realistic muscle fiber lengths you can multiply forces and accelerations in that paper by 1.6-1.8. WIth bliateral retraction by muscles on the sides of the neck, it could lift about 3 tonnes in the right posture. That's a back-of-the-envelope calculation for a moderate-sized adult (AMNH 5027).

[Adrian Boeye]

1. Might be able to! An old model was able to chew up a car pretty decently on "The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs." Maybe not a complete crushing of the vehicle, but certainly deformed and posing a serious hazard to any occupants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aADio2uStTY

2. Dr. Snively answered this better than I ever could. That said, unless I am misreading the paper, a figure of 30.2 m/s^2 of acceleration is listed. Multiplying that by 1.6-1.8 yields an acceleration of about 48-54 m/s^2 or about 5-6gs of acceleration, not far off from some of the forces fighter pilots experience (granted, not as extreme as some 9g maneuvers). Correct me if I am wrong, but that's some pretty impressive stuff. Might have also resulted in a different outcome for that little triceratops in the new Walking with Dinosaurs. 

Best,

Adrian

[Manuel Parrado]

At first glance this sounds a bit sensationalistic, from a practical point of view.

I'm not questioning the bite force models, but in terms of the lifting mechanics involved:

How exactly would T. rex grab a car to lift it?  Would its jaws open wide enough to encompass a large enough section of the vehicle so that it would not rip off when attempting to hoist it in the air?

Additionally, with T. rex's head so far from its hips, have there been studies that calculate how much weight on its mouth could be balanced by its anterior body mass behind the hips, i.e., the tail?

Lastly, 1014kg is a small car indeed!  A Mazda Miata is a bit heavier.  In the US T. rex might not be able to find work on a junkyard with all the big vehicles we buy here :-))

[Eric Snively]

^^This!^^  As Manuel Parrado notes, lifting mechanics dictate practicality. The animal needs to balance the object and itself over their collective center of mass. Diurnal raptors I've worked with lean back with the hind legs to shift backwards. (Merlins, kestrels, and bald eagles extended their trunks a lot, likely with their hamstrings, to augment the pull with their necks. Red tailed hawks and golden eagles did less of that. Golden eagles have chunky necks that probably do the work. I've never dissected a red tail.) 

Manuel Parrado wrote:

"Would its jaws open wide enough to encompass a large enough section of the vehicle so that it would not rip off when attempting to hoist it in the air?"

 Yes the jaws probably opened wide enough. According Adrian Boeye's video link above, the side rail of a Mini Cooper is strong enough to support the cars weight when lifted.

"Lastly, 1014kg is a small car indeed!  A Mazda Miata is a bit heavier.  In the US T. rex might not be able to find work on a junkyard with all the big vehicles we buy here :-))"

As noted in the post above, multipy that by 1.6-1.8 with more realistic muscle fiber lengths, and the animal is dorsiflexing a Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4, or Ferrari 12Cylindri with a full gas tank. Force from pulling upwards/backwards (somehow in an anteflexed posture) with lateroflexors, too, gets closer to a Ford F150.
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[Gregory Paul]

This discourse reveals the continuing problem of treating all the TT-zone Tyrannosaurus as the one species, T. rex. The  three species osteological strength factors differ in ways that look significant and need technical examination based on the premise the exceptional structural differentiation seen in the genus -- not present in other big theropods including tyrannosaurids -- are distinct taxa. This is one of the many reasons I have been publishing on Tyrannosaurus taxonomy, it has major functional implications that have gone ignored because of the errant dominance of the ETRH. Taxonomy equals biology. The differing species of Panthera, for example, have very distinct predatory practices. 

To wit, basal, early T. imperator is the most robust overall in skull and skeleton. Late T. rex is almost as robust. Very interestingly the also late T. regina is more slender boned. As I show in the Mesozoic paper, the three species skulls have quite different strength factors, with the vertical struts between the lateral openings generally being stoutest in imperator, less so in T. rex, and in particular the interfenestral pillar anterior to the antorbital fossa in T. regina much weaker. This can be seen in Fig. 2A-I. Compare, if you please, the thick strut in imperator in H, to the far thinner pillars in T. regina in D-F. This is a remarkable feature that means a big difference in skull strength in resisting bite forces that have been ignored lo these many years because too many people keep chucking everything into T. rex without looking at the actual intragenus proportions and their biological implications. Which is not science, its paleoconformity. 

So do not ask just what T. rex could do with a car. How about gracile T. regina with its more lightly built skull and skeleton. And more massive imperator with its opposite proportions. Let's get past the old defunct ETRH and move onto the modern world of the divergent species of Tyrannosaurus. That includes in future technical studies. 

GSPaul

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[Manuel Parrado]

Thanks, Eric.  I should have watched the video!  That answers the part about a car having an area suitable for lifting.

As for the leverage around the hips issue, it might just be that some tyrannosaurs had strong enough hamstrings and associated muscles to perform the stiff-leg deadlift required to achieve the feat.  I was just wondering if somebody had done the math (or the CAE), but it sounds like this has been considered in detail.

Perhaps T. rex could find work in a junkyard, after all :-)

[Eric Snively]

The caudofemoralis muscles acting bilaterally would pivot the tail down and the trunk upwards. Bird do better with "hamstring" muscles because the caudofemoralis longus homolog is small.  (Apologies to everyone for the imprecision of these terms!) 

[Eric Snively]

We're testing specimens referable to T. regina and T. imperator, as best we can reconstruct the latter. There's lots of variation within the former (Stan and USNM 555000). Where does the Victoria specimen fall? Anyone's free to map results onto evolutionary scenarios.  (And yes, Sue is a monster.)

[Franco Sancarlo]

The Victoria specimen from the boss she seems like a Tyrannosaurus imperator. 

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[Gregory Paul]

I was unaware of the Victoria specimen until this message. Cannot be assessed because no info on it, including exactly what bones are real and not, no measurements, no stratigraphy etc. 

The extremely retracted left leg on the mounted skeleton is impossible. 

GSPaul

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[Adrian Boeye]

That kind of rearing behavior would be quite bird-like! For what it is worth as well, the tail pivoting downwards and the trunk upwards would also reduce the horizontal moment arm which would also make this whole process a bit easier. 

This actually is probably not too hard to work out the math on. Would just need to figure out the moment arm either at a horizontally neutral posture or a rearing posture (or both), get segment data for the torso, neck, head, and mass of whatever is being lifted, and then some data on the leg and neck muscles could be recycled to figure out how much force is being generated to lift the object and/or keep it suspended. If I recall, there was a similar paper on carcharodontosaurs lifting smaller animals, so this pursuit would not be far off or could just be a re-tuning of that article.

[Vladimír Socha]

So it would be able to lift Ford Explorer (Model 1993) from the Jurassic Park movie after all! This car should weight between 3700 and 4000 pounds, or about 1680 to 1815 kg! :-) Fascinating idea, indeed :-) VS.

Dne pondělí 11. srpna 2025 v 14:58:23 UTC+2 uživatel Adrian Boeye napsal:

[Eric Snively]

With both m. caudofemoralis longus muscles contracting together, the upwards acceleration of the trunk ends up 2-3 rad/s^2 for the AMNH T. rex. Enough left over for lifting stuff. That's not counting, of course, spectacular ranges of uncertainty everywhere, the gravitational moment on the tail, m. caudofemoralis brevis, having the head dipped downwards reducing mass moment of inertia in pitch, conservation of angular momentum with other tail and head-neck movements, etc.

[Eric Snively]

Lol. Clever! Perhaps a Tyrannosaurus, AMNH or otherwise,  could lift an Explorer. The poor etiolated Jurassic Park Tyrannosaurus has no neck muscles; skin and vague soft tissue draped over neural spines and transverse processes, wbich are big enough for impressive contours anyway.

[Eric Snively]

A junkyard in one of James Gurney's old Dinotopia books. Appropriate since Tyrannosaurus was the token villian in an otherwise utopian society.

On Sunday, August 10, 2025 at 8:52:03 PM UTC-5 Manuel Parrado wrote:

[Adrian Boeye]

I retract my previous statement on this being an easy thing to work out. Still definitely doable but a lot more time consuming and with large margins of error. Would still be fun to do, just should be done by someone who isn't me.