--- description: Tyrannosaurus rex just got a new friend to join its teeny-tiny arms club. title: This New Dinosaur Had Tiny Arms Just Like T-Rex image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt114413488acefee3/69889bf9a988cafdb06b8a00/gualicho-shinyae.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [dinosaurs](/tag/dinosaurs/) ## dinosaurs Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This New Dinosaur Had Tiny Arms Just Like Tyrannosaurus Rex by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 14, 2016 4:37 PM CUT  A general view of Gualicho shinyae, an unusual carnivorous dinosaur that lived at the Argentinian Patagonia during the Superior Cretacious period, presented during an event in Buenos Aires on July 13, 2016. A general view of Gualicho shinyae, an unusual carnivorous dinosaur that lived at the Argentinian Patagonia during the Superior Cretacious period, presented during an event in Buenos Aires on July 13, 2016.Alberto Ortiz—EPA by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 14, 2016 4:37 PM CUT Tyrannosaurus rex just got a new friend to join [its teeny-tiny arms club.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/science/dinosaurs-short-arms-gualicho-shinyae.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") Gualicho shinyae, a newly identified dinosaur, was a distant relative of T-rex and had similarly small forearms and hands with two clawed fingers. Like the famous T-rex, this new dinosaur was carnivorous was a two-legged theropod, the New York _Times_ reports. But what paleontologists are really interested in is that Gualicho shinyae developed its short arms separately from T-rex, according to a new study in the journal [PLOS One](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0157793#abstract0 "undefined"). Gualicho shinyae belongs to a different type of dinosaurs called allosaurus, which scientists previously saw with strong, full-sized arms. This is one of the few theropods with miniature arms, and scientists are hoping the new discovery could help them determine the evolutionary causes of these small limbs. “It begins to tell us a little bit about the story of how and why animals like T-rex and other theropods reduce their forearms,” Peter Makovicky, an author of the study told the _Times_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4406326/new-dinosaur-tiny-arms-tyrannosaurus-rex/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4406326/new-dinosaur-tiny-arms-tyrannosaurus-rex/"},"headline":"This New Dinosaur Had Tiny Arms Just Like Tyrannosaurus Rex","datePublished":"2016-07-14T16:37:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:54:32.755Z","description":"The discovery may shed light on why some dinosaurs had short arms","url":"https://time.com/4406326/new-dinosaur-tiny-arms-tyrannosaurus-rex/","keywords":["dinosaurs","Paleontology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt114413488acefee3/69889bf9a988cafdb06b8a00/gualicho-shinyae.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt114413488acefee3/69889bf9a988cafdb06b8a00/gualicho-shinyae.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presentation of Gualicho shinyae","caption":"A general view of Gualicho shinyae, an unusual carnivorous dinosaur that lived at the Argentinian Patagonia during the Superior Cretacious period, presented during an event in Buenos Aires on July 13, 2016.","creditText":"Alberto Ortiz—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dinosaurs/","name":"dinosaurs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4406326/new-dinosaur-tiny-arms-tyrannosaurus-rex/","name":"This New Dinosaur Had Tiny Arms Just Like Tyrannosaurus Rex"}}]}] ```