Jiga
Active Member
T-Rex | Scavenger or Predator
This program was just on SBS, and it was quite interesting. Contrary to popular belief, one person put forward the possibility that T-Rex was a scavenger, his reasons being that T-Rex had:
*Small arms unlike other predators of the time
* Had round teeth unlike other predators of the time
* Teeth marks from a fossil matched T-Rex teeth, and were found on a part of the animal that was underneath its tail (Meaning it scavenging)
* Calculations showed that T-Rex didn’t need to eat that much, and that scavenging would provide enough food for it to have survived.
It was quite convincing, BUT then some evidence was found that contradicted this. Some animal which was prey around that time, likened to the Cow of that age, had a bite mark on its tail skeleton structure (which matched the jaw of a T-Rex), and had signs of the bones rebuilding, meaning it had survived an attack from a T-Rex, so it couldn’t have been a scavenger.
Personally, I think T-Rex was simply an opportunist, it was big so it could have gained access to any carcus laying around…but it also had good eyesight and speed to hunt for animals when needed. Nonetheless, the debate continues as to whether T-Rex was MORE of a scavenger or a predator.
This program was just on SBS, and it was quite interesting. Contrary to popular belief, one person put forward the possibility that T-Rex was a scavenger, his reasons being that T-Rex had:
*Small arms unlike other predators of the time
* Had round teeth unlike other predators of the time
* Teeth marks from a fossil matched T-Rex teeth, and were found on a part of the animal that was underneath its tail (Meaning it scavenging)
* Calculations showed that T-Rex didn’t need to eat that much, and that scavenging would provide enough food for it to have survived.
It was quite convincing, BUT then some evidence was found that contradicted this. Some animal which was prey around that time, likened to the Cow of that age, had a bite mark on its tail skeleton structure (which matched the jaw of a T-Rex), and had signs of the bones rebuilding, meaning it had survived an attack from a T-Rex, so it couldn’t have been a scavenger.
Personally, I think T-Rex was simply an opportunist, it was big so it could have gained access to any carcus laying around…but it also had good eyesight and speed to hunt for animals when needed. Nonetheless, the debate continues as to whether T-Rex was MORE of a scavenger or a predator.
