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Tyrannosaurus Rex - Hunter or Scavenger?
Topic Started: Jul 15 2012, 10:00 AM (12,441 Views)
DinosaurMichael
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Apex Predator
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So I just finished watching Valley of the T-Rex and though I accept Jack Horner's opinion about T-Rex being just a scavenger. I still think T-Rex was both a Predator and a Scavenger.



So what do you guys think T-Rex is in your opinion. A Hunter, Scavenger or Both?
Edited by DinosaurMichael, Jul 16 2012, 12:59 AM.
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theropod
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palaeontology, open source and survival enthusiast
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Actually having a shorter tib than femur doesn´t necessarily mean you are slower, it´s just a rough clue if nothing more precise can be said.


Now that I´m thinking about it, this tread is redundant, as there is only one possible solution.
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Jinfengopteryx
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Valley of T-rex seems to be yet again Discovery bullshit(like COTD).
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Godzillasaurus
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I can't really determine this. Tyrannosaurs had thick, spike-like teeth perfect for crushing bones. On top of that, tyrannosaurs had very small arms for theropod standards. I think it was probably a scavenger the majority of the time, but it was still big and strong enough to be an accomplished hunter.
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theropod
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It might have scavenged a lot, but still it is near impossible to be a pure scavenger. The only possible solution on this tread is "both". I think T rex could be compared to a hyaena or lion in terms of lifestyle.
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Godzillasaurus
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theropod
Jul 19 2012, 06:51 AM
It might have scavenged a lot, but still it is near impossible to be a pure scavenger. The only possible solution on this tread is "both". I think T rex could be compared to a hyaena or lion in terms of lifestyle.
I don't think it was as great a hunter as carnosaurs such as carcharodontosaurus though. Its teeth weren't as skilled at killing.
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7Alx
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Godzillaman
Jul 19 2012, 03:23 AM
I can't really determine this. Tyrannosaurs had thick, spike-like teeth perfect for crushing bones. On top of that, tyrannosaurs had very small arms for theropod standards. I think it was probably a scavenger the majority of the time, but it was still big and strong enough to be an accomplished hunter.
Short doesn't mean that it was mostly scavenger. If it does, then terror birds like Gastornis, which had useless arms were scavengers. Honestly i don't think so.

I think juveniles and gracile adults (like MOR 555) would be primally hunters, while robust, old and big adults would be more of scavenger, which would steal meat, which was hunted by smaller or younger tyrannosaurus.
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theropod
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I agree, the above theory makes sense to me.
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Oaglor
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Godzillaman
Jul 19 2012, 10:35 AM
theropod
Jul 19 2012, 06:51 AM
It might have scavenged a lot, but still it is near impossible to be a pure scavenger. The only possible solution on this tread is "both". I think T rex could be compared to a hyaena or lion in terms of lifestyle.
I don't think it was as great a hunter as carnosaurs such as carcharodontosaurus though. Its teeth weren't as skilled at killing.
How is a bite that can break through bones not as good at killing as a bite that simply slices through flesh?
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Godzillasaurus
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7Alx
Jul 20 2012, 04:13 AM
Godzillaman
Jul 19 2012, 03:23 AM
I can't really determine this. Tyrannosaurs had thick, spike-like teeth perfect for crushing bones. On top of that, tyrannosaurs had very small arms for theropod standards. I think it was probably a scavenger the majority of the time, but it was still big and strong enough to be an accomplished hunter.
Short doesn't mean that it was mostly scavenger. If it does, then terror birds like Gastornis, which had useless arms were scavengers. Honestly i don't think so.

I think juveniles and gracile adults (like MOR 555) would be primally hunters, while robust, old and big adults would be more of scavenger, which would steal meat, which was hunted by smaller or younger tyrannosaurus.
Good theory.
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Godzillasaurus
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Oaglor
Jul 20 2012, 09:04 AM
Godzillaman
Jul 19 2012, 10:35 AM
theropod
Jul 19 2012, 06:51 AM
It might have scavenged a lot, but still it is near impossible to be a pure scavenger. The only possible solution on this tread is "both". I think T rex could be compared to a hyaena or lion in terms of lifestyle.
I don't think it was as great a hunter as carnosaurs such as carcharodontosaurus though. Its teeth weren't as skilled at killing.
How is a bite that can break through bones not as good at killing as a bite that simply slices through flesh?
My point exactly. I said "Its teeth weren't as skilled at killing". Though a tyrannosaur bite could easily crush a victim's neck or spine, tyrannosaur teeth were just better for dealing with bones. Carcharodontosaurus had knife-like teeth which were lethal weapons rather than bone crunchers.
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Oaglor
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So having your bones crunched through like potato chips isn't lethal?
Edited by Oaglor, Jul 20 2012, 12:08 PM.
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linnaeus1758
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I see it as a giant vulture. Someone had to eat those gigantic corpses. Although I think it could occasionally hunt something. I firmly believe that for its great sense of smell, tyrannosaurus could had been a scavenger. Besides those useless tiny arms that tyrannosaur had, reminds me at the useless foot of vultures and condors. Only had its jaws, unlike the super armed hunters like dromaeosaurs, so with only with its jaws, without powerful claws in its arms or in its feet, so that the most likely to me is that it was a scavenger (also with super powerful jaws to break the bones of corpses. For example, giganotosaurus had a much lighter skull (to run faster), and arms with long claws and with more fingers, so to me, the giganotosaur was a hunter, but tyrannosaur only had a very heavy skull, without functional claws...
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Oaglor
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Except Vultures can fly and save energy while T. rex has to walk everywhere. Also there aren't any other large predators (Unless you count Quetzalcoatlus and Deinosuchus) around to be killing the various hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs and ceratopsians for the T. rex to eat. The only way I can see the scavenger idea working if its just older animals scavenging off the kills of younger individuals and even then they will still have to hunt for themselves a lot of the time.
Edited by Oaglor, Jul 21 2012, 12:46 PM.
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Godzillasaurus
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Oaglor
Jul 20 2012, 12:04 PM
So having your bones crunched through like potato chips isn't lethal?
Well, it is. However, I said that tyrannosaur TEETH weren't as lethal as those of, say, carnosaurs like carcharodontosaurus.
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Oaglor
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But you also have to remember that Tyrannosaurs and Carnosaurs hunted different kinds of prey. While the Carnosaurs, such as Giganotosaurus, mainly hunted things like Iguanodonts and Sauropods while Tyrannosaurs had to handle Hadrosaurs, Ceratopsians, Pachycephalosaurs, and Ankylosaurs.
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