T-Rex, Merciless Killer or Garbage Disposal Unit?

Reuters ^ | Thu, Jul 31, 2003 | Jeremy Lovell

[presidio9]

For a century, the towering Tyrannosaurus Rex has been regarded as a savage killer marauding unchallenged across the later dinosaur era.

But a new exhibition at London's Natural History Museum asks whether the monster meat-eater was instead a lumbering bully which lived on rotting corpses or used its bulk to rob smaller dinosaurs of their prey.

"I believe it was a scavenger pure and simple because I can't find any evidence to support the theory that it was a predator," paleontologist Jack Horner said at the opening on Thursday of "T-Rex -- the killer question."

Horner, the inspiration for scientist Alan Grant -- played by Sam Neill -- in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," said the lumbering giant was too slow, its arms too small and its sight too poor to catch anything moving.

On the other hand -- like a vulture -- the part of its brain dedicated to smell was huge and its giant jaws were bone crushers not flesh cutters.

"Everything says this dinosaur lived on dead meat. Even statistically we find that plant-eating dinosaurs were far more common than predators, and T-Rex is the second most common dinosaur," said Horner from Montana's Museum of the Rockies.

Although Natural History Museum paleontologist Angela Milner agreed that T-Rex was not built to run far or fast, she said there was nothing to suggest it could not catch and kill slow moving prey -- although falling over might be a problem.

"Research in the United States suggests that falling over while running might have been fatal because of its bulk. But I think it was partly a scavenger and partly a hunter. I believe it could have killed old or weak animals," she said.

Visitors to the exhibition which includes life-sized animated models of the 16-foot tall, six-ton brute attacking and eating its four-legged meals will get the chance to make up their own minds over the next nine months.

But a show of hands by the group of children at the opening on Thursday already suggested the likely answer -- almost all said T-Rex was probably a combination predator-scavenger.

"The answer is that we will probably never be certain, but as long as we keep asking the questions we are serving science," said an unfazed Horner.

[scab4faa]

I vote for Garbage Disposal Unit

[Junior]

From the posts on this thread so far, it is apparent that not only are many folks scientifically illiterate, they are positively scientifically-antipathetic.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Eagles and lions also go for carrion. It's a fast food mentality.

[Junior]

Don't forget the presence of large numbers of — the word escapes me, but they are bone sheets that increased the olfactory surface area.

[Junior]

Bakker

[presidio9]

From the posts on this thread so far, it is apparent that not only are many folks scientifically illiterate, they are positively scientifically-antipathetic

Yes, we are all honored to be in the presence of such greatness. Teach us, o wise one.

[jlogajan]

I would imagine that a large eating machine like T-Rex was opportunistic.

That would be the most robust.

[BA63]

Oh No! - My youngest son at age 5 completely lost it (crying) in the movie theatre during Jurassic Park III when Spineosauraus killed T-Rex in a fight.

Wait till I tell him T-Rex was a big garbage truck...

Oh Well, maybe he might become interested in Waste Management some day...

[John O]

What this fellow seems to do, is sit in a corner and pluck wild ideas out of the air -- sometimes he has a plum idea, but he is mostly all thumbs.

Excellent play on his name!!!

[Redcloak]

T-rex's legs bones aren't proportioned like a sprinter's bones. T-rex's femur accounts for about half of the length of its leg...

...as compared to a cheetah...

...where the femur is about 1/3 of the leg's total length. T-rex would have a hard time getting those legs to move quickly. (In other words, he's built like an offensive lineman, not a wide receiver!)

[ClearCase_guy]

Do you have any clue as to what paleontologists do? Or, if it's something you don't understand you just claim it to be some sort of crap shoot?

Dude! It's a Little Jack Horner joke. Ya know? Mother Goose?

[Salgak]

How ? From the size of the sinuses and nasal cavities, and the size of the nerve trunk running into the brain from them. . .you don't put in a 8-lane superhighway for farm-road traffic. . .

[R. Scott]

Merciless Killer or Garbage Disposal Unit?

Why not both? There are few predators that will not eat carrion, and few scavengers that will not occasionally kill.

[Junior]

Sorry. As a veteran of hundreds of other science posts over the years I've become a little trigger happy in my perceptions. Je me regret.

[XJarhead]

From the posts on this thread so far, it is apparent that not only are many folks scientifically illiterate, they are positively scientifically-antipathetic.

That's condescending and unfair.

I've seen enough Godzilla movies to know that something built like that can move plenty fast enough to catch larger prey. He almost took out King Kong, and the only things that really gave him a lot of problems were heavy electrical wiring and flying turtles. I vote predator!

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

C'mon gang! 35 posts and no picture of Marc Bolan? We're slipping!

[Junior]

You forgot the three-headed dragon thingy.

[XJarhead]

How could I forget? It took the combined talents of Godzilla, Mothra, and Gamera to defeat Ghidra. Point well taken.

[xsrdx]

"The answer is that we will probably never be certain, but as long as we keep asking the questions we are serving science,"

OK, so TREX had an excellent sense of smell. So do most modern apex predators, like bears, wolves and big cats.

TREX also had vision oriented forward - like a predator.

Enormous legs and highly developed clawed feet. Not to mention powerful jaws and huge, CYLINDRICAL teeth. Teeth like modern big cats.

The idea that an animal that big, and that powerful, stood around WAITING for stuff to die seems ENORMOUSLY intractable.

Horner's a smart guy and all, but sustaining that much bulk on carrion alone is unlikely. TREX may not have jousted with Triceratops, but he could easily have run down smaller prey and simply devoured them like nacho chips.

[js1138]

I believe it could have killed old or weak animals," she said.

The preferred prey of all preditors. My dog obedience school instructor says that when your beloved pet jumps at you on you return home, he is really just testing to see if you have been injured and possibly eligible for demotion.