Posted on 07/27/2014 6:46:58 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The collective noun is a terror of tyrannosaurs: a pack of the prehistoric predators, moving and hunting in numbers, for prey that faced the fight of its life.
That tyrannosaurs might have hunted in groups has long been debated by dinosaur experts, but with so little to go on, the prospect has remained firmly in the realm of speculation.
But researchers in Canada now claim to have the strongest evidence yet that the ancient beasts did move around in packs.
At a remote site in north-east British Columbia - in the west of Canada - they uncovered the first known tyrannosaur trackways, apparently left by three animals going the same way at the same time...
The footprints were so well-preserved that even the contours of the animals' skin were visible. "You start wondering what it would have been like to have been there when the tracks were made. The word is terror. I wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley at night," McCrea said.
From the size of the footprints, the researchers put the beasts in their late 20s or early 30s – a venerable age for tyrannosaurs. The depth of the prints and other measurements suggest the tracks were left at the same time. They date back to nearly 70m years ago.
Close inspection of the trackways found that the tyrannosaur that left the first set of prints had a missing claw from its left foot, perhaps a battle injury. Details of the study are published in the journal Plos One.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
They say someday that they might be able to do it. Jurassic Park style. With a lot more science.
Rofl... well played Dave. Well played.
In this case, we have an eyewitness account. Steven Speilburg observed this very behavior when he was on his recent Triceratops hunting expedition. Just ask him, or check it out on facebook.
/rimshot!
A gang attacked King Kong and he wrapped three of ‘em up in cellophane.
:’)
Predators, but current predators also resort to scavenging when they’re hungry. :’)
true
but I was thinking that any threat to the boss are killed or expelled from the pack, like with lions, where they become loners.
Hopefully there will be a cutesy name for a group of Tyrannosaurus. Like a clowder of cats, a congregation of alligators, a murder of crows, and a horde of hamsters.
A “ballet” of Tyrannosauruses?
A “dainty” of Tyrannosauruses?
A “sweetness” of Tyrannosauruses?
When you’re a Rex you’re a Rex all the way
From you’re first chomp chomp to you’re last dying day
Regina!
I just met a Rex named Regina ...
I just last week I saw the preserved T Rex footprint outside Tuba City, Arizona. There was only one that I saw, and there was no evidence of a pack, but there were hundreds of smaller herbivore prints all over the area. The three-toed T Rex print was huge, easily three foot from the heel spur to the middle toe which was about ten inches wide at its root.
Impossible! Tyrannosaurs were from the Cretaceous. Allosaurs, however, could have been chocovorous. Try to come up with some tie-in to global warming and apply for a multimillion dollar federal research grant.
The article uses the term a terror of T-rex. Kind of a nice ring to it.
Uhhhhh, yes it is. That's why they call it the fossil record... ;)
Aw, you beat me to it.
All net baby. Swish!
But I thought the theories, like the fossils, were embedded in stone, same as the heads of my instructors that handed them down from upon high on the lectern.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.