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 ...
Excellent, Dave.
In paleontology the evidence usually is handed down in stone.
Real science is NEVER settled. When new data conflicts with an existing theory, it’s blown out of the water and a new theory must be formulated.
It’s not “Obama said it, I believe it and that settles it.”
What’s that from?
Freegards
iirc, the book title was Views
Thanks, very cool. It does look very Dean-y now. It reminded me of Jack Vance’s ‘Dragon Masters,’ which won the 1963 Hugo. Image search ‘Jack Vance Dragon Masters’ and similar things show up.
Freegards
They all went extinct because of reptile dysfunction.
Nice!
;’)
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