DINO VERY SORE
T-Rex suffered from ARTHRITIS and would have had a dodgy back and knees, say scientists
It's thought that damage in weight-bearing bones would leave dinos an easy target for predators
T.REX suffered from a dodgy back and knees, according to scientists who found signs of arthritis in killer dinosaurs.
Experts say theropods, two-legged beasts like Tyrannosaurus, were “blighted by bone diseases”.
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It means ferocious predators built for power and speed — such as T.rex, allosaurus and velociraptor — may have hobbled in pain, just like afflicted humans.
Fossils showed signs of fused vertebrae and strange growths on the leg bones of three theropods dug up in South America.
Study author Dr Mattia Baiano, from the National University of Rio Negro in Argentina, reckons some giant dinos came down with arthritis or even gout.
Both conditions see painful swelling in the joints and may be triggered by injuries, old age or being overweight.
Backs and hind legs were the dinosaurs’ top problem areas but they also suffered bone damage in their jaws and arms.
Writing in the journal BMC Ecology and Evolution, Dr Baiano said: “A large number of theropod specimens have evidence of some type of malady.
“Damage in weight-bearing bones would hamper the feeding activities or would leave them an easy target for predators.”
The dinosaurs in the study were 70million to 90million-year-old abelisaurids, which came just before Tyrannosaurs.
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Their later cousin T.rex went on to become the king of the dinosaurs.
It could grow up to 40ft long and could run at 25mph despite weighing five to eight tons.