Largest Tyrannosaurus Rex Ever Found Confirmed by Canadian Scientists

Meet the Biggest T-Rex That Ever Lived

T​he world's largest Tyrannosaurus Rex was nearly as long as an 18-wheeler and weighed as much as four cars combined, according to paleontologists at the University of Alberta.

Researchers are making startling discoveries about the massive T-Rex, which they recently reassembled from bones dating back 66 million years. T​he findings were announced by the university this week and published by Science Daily.

"This is the rex of rexes,” Scott Persons, one of the paleontologists who has studied the dinosaur, said in the report.

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The massive T-Rex, "Scotty," was named for a celebratory bottle of scotch on the night the skeleton was found in Saskatchewan in 1991. Researchers estimate Scotty was about 42 feet long and weighed about 10 tons, and is the largest T-Rex ever known to roam the earth. Scotty is also the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Canada.

“There is considerable size variability among Tyrannosaurus," Persons said. "Some individuals were lankier than others and some were more robust. Scotty exemplifies the robust."

“Scotty is the oldest T-Rex known,” Persons said. “By which I mean, it would have had the most candles on its last birthday cake. You can get an idea of how old a dinosaur is by cutting into its bones and studying its growth patterns. Scotty is all old growth.”

The giant was also apparently a veteran of ferocious fighting. Persons said the skeleton bears many violent scars, including evidence of broken ribs, an infected jaw and what might be a bite from another T-Rex.

The discoveries were nearly two decades in the making. It took more than 10 years to extract Scotty's bones from the sandstone in which they were encased, and then several more to piece them together like a huge, complex jigsaw puzzle.

A new exhibit featuring the skeleton of Scotty is scheduled to open at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in May.

"I think there will always be bigger discoveries to be made," said Persons. "But as of right now, this particular Tyrannosaurus is the largest terrestrial predator known to science."