Tyrannosaurus rex, popularly known as T-Rex, is one of the most iconic dinosaurs to have ever walked the planet.
Rex, which means "king" in Latin, reigned supreme in what is now western North America until it was wiped out during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Despite its extinction, the closest living relatives of T-Rex are said to have dominated the world till today, with a larger population than humans! Could this be true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
In 2003, a unique fossil of the T-Rex was discovered with soft tissue intact. This allowed scientists to extract enough DNA for research.
This 68-million-year fossil was compared to the DNA of 21 modern animal species and it was concluded that the proteins found in the DNA were most like those of... chickens.
Further research provided more evidence for scientists to confirm that the chicken is the closest living relative today to the T-Rex.
Even before this evidence surfaced, it was observed that chickens and T-Rex had many similar characteristics.
Both walk on two legs, have scaly feet with sharp claws and an arched neck with a big head.
Convinced? Now, let's talk numbers.
According to statistics by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation in 2023, there are about 34.4 billion chickens in the world.
Using data from the International Database, the United States Census Bureau estimates the world population hit eight billion in September 2023.
That means there are four times as many chickens as there are humans!
However, if we dive deeper into why they have such staggering numbers, the fact is no less disturbing.
Chickens are probably the most highly consumed protein source on earth and also the most badly abused farm animals with the worst management practices.
But that's a story for another day. Stay tuned with us as the plot chickens.
Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/t-rex-linked-to-chickens-ostriches-180940877/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaur-shocker-115306469/
https://www.fao.org/poultry-production-products/production/poultry-species/chickens/en/
https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/#/dashboard?COUNTRY_YEAR=2023&COUNTRY_YR_ANIM=2023
