Tiny T. Rex Arms We Laugh At May Have Been 'Vicious'

It's a physical mismatch that's long puzzled paleontologists: Tyrannosaurus rex, terror of the Cretaceous Period, empowered with a giant head and ferocious jaws, yet also stuck with tiny, seemingly useless arms. 

Per National Geographic, scientists' speculation on the arms has included using them to hang onto prey, as leverage when getting off the ground, or for pulling mates closer during sex; the general consensus is that whatever they were used for, they were vestigial appendages. But Steven Stanley of the University of Hawaii at Manoa has come up with a different theory. 

In research presented at last week's meeting of the Geological Society of America, Stanley posits that the dinosaur's arms were used for "vicious slashing," and he offers six points to support his argument, including that the arms' length would have been ideal for close-quarter cuts.

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