Posted on 07/31/2003 9:49:35 AM PDT by 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.
Yup, Monster Zero....King Ghidra if you watch the whole show.
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero... best goofy rubber suit monster movie in history.
Duh. As if modern tigers or leopards sit around thinking, "Hey, let's find the biggest, most dangerous prey item we can possibly take on".
As noted, any predator worthy of the name selects the least difficult route to dinner.
How to explain the recurved, cylindrical teeth? It would *seem* that such teeth would be optimal for holding struggling prey, and delivering a fatal bite.
Vultures scavenge without ANY TEETH AT ALL, so why the head full of friggin Bowie Knives?
Yeah, that scene was cool -I was rooting for the TRex myself.
There's plenty of evidence to indicate TRex was more than just a big, toothy vulture, though.
Modern Hyena's scavenge a lot of meals too; they also happen to be first class predators when required.
They're in roughly the same proportion as an ostrich, however, and ostriches are quite swift. It's worth noting the other similarities in skeletal structure, too.
Possibly the nearest Henckels store was inconveniently located?
FWIW, I think T-Rex was a predator, but the ostrich's femur is clearly a very small of the leg, especially compared to T-Rex.
Trying to see a pack of T.Rex sating on a small carcase the happen to find.
I meant: Don't most SCAVENGERS tend to be pack animals?
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