3042: T. Rex Evolution - Revision history

178.143.36.152: Add heading

2026-03-05T13:11:13Z

Add heading

172.69.59.86: removed the incomplete marker, as the reason it was incomplete was already resolved

2025-05-15T21:28:40Z

removed the incomplete marker, as the reason it was incomplete was already resolved

FaviFake: That is not what i meant

2025-05-01T13:32:21Z

That is not what i meant

BobcatInABox at 23:22, 30 April 2025

2025-04-30T23:22:50Z

BobcatInABox at 23:22, 30 April 2025

2025-04-30T23:22:26Z

FaviFake: Well I found one thing I cant do on my phone

2025-04-21T07:37:01Z

Well I found one thing I cant do on my phone

162.158.74.109: /* Explanation */ All useless, then.

2025-04-20T19:41:18Z

‎Explanation: All useless, then.

FaviFake: /* Explanation */ i hope you'll let me remove the useless junk now?

2025-04-20T17:42:31Z

‎Explanation: i hope you'll let me remove the useless junk now?

BobcatInABox at 13:47, 19 April 2025

2025-04-19T13:47:58Z

FaviFake: /* Explanation */ My goal was to make it clear this wasn't the default notice. This good?

2025-04-19T11:15:09Z

‎Explanation: My goal was to make it clear this wasn't the default notice. This good?

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:11, 5 March 2026
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	}}		}}

		+	==Explanation==
	The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.		The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 | titletext = Unfortunately, body size and bite force continue to increase.
 }}
 The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/78/ works of fiction that feature dinosaurs]. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.
+The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.
 {{w|Evolution|Evolutionary theory}} indicates that different selection pressures cause the development or loss of characteristics, as those characteristics which enable better survival to continuation of the species are emphasized and those which don't (such as wasting nutrients on growing unnecessary limbs) are not.
@@ Line 19: / Line 20: @@
 The title text make a similar claim that, as ''T. rex'' was also larger than its ancestors, the same trend in growth would continue, such that the hypothetical limbless present-day descendant would be even larger than the {{what if|78|famously elephant-sized}} ''T. rex''. In reality animals do not change in size linearly over time, and a modern descendant of Tyrannosaurus would not necessarily be dramatically larger and could easily have become somewhat smaller, even with the same body plans and lifestyle. Though it is unlikely that the constraints of {{w|insular dwarfism}} could have applied to such creatures across the continental range they may have remained alive to inhabit, many unknown factors might have influenced their descendants' body shapes, and probably even induced further speciation to render all surviving branches of the tyrannosaur family tree as distinct, probably to include both growing and re-shrinking lineages. (It is a common misconception, used here for humorous purposes, that an individual personally evolves into a particular form, or that a single descendant represents the only evolutionary track taken 'towards perfection' from a less evolved ancestor.)
-This comic may be tangentially related to the fact that birds are dinosaurs that survived the KT extinction, which is a recurring theme on xkcd.
+The ''T. rex'' was also referenced in the ''[[what if? (blog)|what if?]]'' article ''{{what if|78|T-rex Calories}}''. This comic may be tangentially related to the fact that birds are dinosaurs that survived the KT extinction, which is a recurring theme on xkcd. Extrapolation and interpolation, often absurd, are [[:Category:Extrapolation|recurrent topics]] on xkcd.
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:22, 30 April 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|We need to link to the what if that's about the T. rex.}}~~

	The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/78/ works of fiction that feature dinosaurs]. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.		The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/78/ works of fiction that feature dinosaurs]. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|We need to link to the what if that's about the T. rex.}}
-The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.
+The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/78/ works of fiction that feature dinosaurs]. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.
 {{w|Evolution|Evolutionary theory}} indicates that different selection pressures cause the development or loss of characteristics, as those characteristics which enable better survival to continuation of the species are emphasized and those which don't (such as wasting nutrients on growing unnecessary limbs) are not.

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:37, 21 April 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
		+	{{incomplete\|We need to link to the what if that's about the T. rex.}}
		+
	The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.		The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:41, 20 April 2025
Line 10:		Line 10:

	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	{{incomplete\|We need to confirm the graph's claims about T. rex's predecessors. We need to add more about extrapolation. It is currently mentioned as a side note and should be a main theme. Please don't delete this tag too soon.}}
−
	The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.		The small and commonly supposed useless forelimbs of ''{{w\|Tyrannosaurus rex}}'' have often been used as a source of humor in works of fiction that feature dinosaurs. [[Randall]] claims that the ancestors of ''T. rex'' had (relatively) longer forelimbs, and hypothesizes that — had non-avian dinosaurs not suffered an {{w\|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event\|extinction event}} — this trend of "reduced limbs" would have continued until present-day descendants of ''T. rex'' were limbless creatures not unlike a giant snake.