Arecent studyproffered the idea thatTyrannosaurus rex , arguably the most famous of the dinosaurs , may have been three species or else of one . While names like Tyrant Lizard Emperor and Tyrant Lizard Queen made the prospect a spicy one , a new composition rebut the findings in saying that there ’s insufficient grounds to apologise splitting the species ( at least , for now ) .

“ Tyrannosaurus rexremains the one true king of the dinosaur , ” study atomic number 27 - author Steve Brusatte , a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh whose recent scientific contributions includeconsulting onJurassic World Dominionand describe the heavy everpterosaur , said in astatement .

“ Recently , a sheer theory was harbinger to much fanfare : what we callT. rexwas actually multiple species . It is reliable that the fossil we have are somewhat variable in size of it and shape , but as we show in our new study , that magnetic variation is minor and can not be used to neatly separate the fossils into easy define bunch . ”

“ free-base on all the fogey evidence we currently have , T. rexstands alone as the single giant apex predator from the end of the Age of Dinosaurs in North America . ”

Published toEvolutionary Biology , Brusatte joins a body of voices from the paleontological community who expressed doubts over the proposed split when the original paper was published . To bolster their controversy , the researchers on the new paper revisit the data and include further information on 112 mintage of living dinosaur – birds – as well as four non - avian theropod dinosaurs

“ Their subject area claimed that the variation inT. rexspecimens was so eminent that they were in all likelihood from multiple closely relate mintage of giant kernel - eating dinosaur , ” said James Napoli , co - lead author of the rebuttal study and a graduating doctoral scholarly person in the American Museum of Natural History ’s Richard Gilder Graduate School .

“ But this claim was establish on a very small comparative sample . When compared to datum from hundreds of experience birds , we in reality detect thatT. rexis less variable than most living theropod dinosaurs . This personal credit line of grounds for proposed multiple species does n’t hold up . ”

While it might seem strange for so much disputation to exist around grounds for and against specie , identifying unique individuals among group of closely - related animals is something we fight with even in those alive today .

“ The boundaries of even living species are very hard to delimitate : for example , zoologists discord over the number of living species of Giraffa camelopardalis , ” said conscientious objector - author Thomas Holtz , from the University of Maryland and the National Museum of Natural History . “ It becomes much more difficult when the species involved are ancient and only eff from a fairly small turn of specimen . ”

While the investigator on this novel newspaper conclude that there is insufficient evidence to back a trio ofT. rexspecies , they ’re not saying that it was emphatically just a unmarried brute , either . It could be that futurity , more racy evidence could tippytoe the donnish scale in favour of several mintage ofT. rex , but we ’re not there yet .

“ T. rexis an iconic species and an incredibly authoritative one for both palaeontological enquiry and communicating to the populace about science , so it ’s important that we get this right , ” said carbon monoxide - author David Hone , from Queen Mary University of London .

“ There is still a good hazard that there is more than one coinage ofTyrannosaurusout there , but we involve strong evidence to make that kind of decision . ”