Until now, the fearsome reputation of Tyrannosaurus rex has been pretty solid. Seven tons. More than 40 feet long. Huge head. Powerful jaws and meat-shredding teeth.
What could possibly pose a threat to such a beast, the king of the dinosaurs?
Ewan D.S. Wolff, a vertebrate paleontologist and a veterinary student at the UW-Madison, has discovered a surprising answer. T. rex, a new study by Wolff and other researchers has shown, may have often been laid low not by deadly combat with other dinosaurs but instead by a tiny parasite.