Ever since the first discovery of Tyrannosaurus most scientists have speculated that it was a predator, and that like modern large predators it would readily scavenge or steal another predator's kill if it had the opportunity. [1] Most paleontologists accept that Tyrannosaurus was both an active predator and a scavenger like most large carnivores. [2] Tyrannosaurus has been described as the Apex predator in Late Cretaceous North America. [3]
Evidence suggests hunting behavior in Tyrannosaurus. A skeleton of the hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus annectens has been described from Montana with healed tyrannosaur-inflicted damage on its tail vertebrae. The fact that the damage seems to have healed suggests that the Edmontosaurus survived a tyrannosaur's attack on a living target, i.e. the tyrannosaur had attempted active predation. [4] There is also evidence for an aggressive interaction between a Triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus in the form of partially healed tyrannosaur tooth marks on a Triceratops brow horn and squamosal (a bone of the neck frill); the bitten horn is also broken, with new bone growth after the break. It is not known what the exact nature of the interaction was, though: either animal could have been the aggressor. [5] Since the Triceratops wounds healed, it is most likely that the Triceratops survived the encounter and managed to overcome the Tyrannosaurus. In a battle against a bull Triceratops, the Triceratops would likely defend itself by inflicting fatal wounds to the Tyrannosaurus using its sharp horns. [6]
The eye sockets of tyrannosaurs are positioned so that the eyes would point forward, giving them binocular vision slightly better than that of modern hawks. It is not obvious why natural selection would have favored this long-term trend if tyrannosaurs had been pure scavengers, which would not have needed the advanced depth perception that stereoscopic vision provides. [7] [8]
A study in 2012 by Karl Bates and Peter Falkingham demonstrated that Tyrannosaurus had the most powerful bite of any terrestrial animal that has ever lived, finding an adult Tyrannosaurus could have exerted 35,000 to 57,000 N (7,868 to 12,814 lbf) of force in the back teeth. [9] [10] [11] Even higher estimates were made by Mason B. Meers in 2003. [12]
This allowed it to crush bones during repetitive biting and fully consume the carcasses of large dinosaurs. [13] Stephan Lautenschlager and colleagues calculated that Tyrannosaurus was capable of a maximum jaw gape of around 80 degrees, a necessary adaptation for a wide range of jaw angles to power the creature's strong bite. [14] [15]
Tyrannosaurus, and most other theropods, probably primarily processed carcasses with lateral shakes of the head, like crocodilians. The head was not as maneuverable as the skulls of allosauroids, due to flat joints of the neck vertebrae. [16]
Tyrannosaurus may have had infectious saliva used to kill its prey as shown by serrations (tiny protuberances) on the cutting edges of the teeth are closely spaced, enclosing little chambers. These chambers might have trapped pieces of carcass with bacteria, giving Tyrannosaurus a deadly, infectious bite much like the Komodo dragon was thought to have. [17] [18] Tyrannosaurus's tooth serrations may have been more like cubes in shape than the serrations on a Komodo monitor's teeth, which are rounded. [19]: 214–215
Paleontologist Jack Horner has been a major proponent of view that Tyrannosaurus was not a predator at all but instead was exclusively a scavenger. [19] [20] [21] He has put forward arguments in the popular literature to support the pure scavenger hypothesis:
Stevens2006Binocular
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).jaffe
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).MM03
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).hornerlessem1993
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).dinodictionary
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).HutchinsonGarcia2002TrexSlow
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).manningetal2008
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).Ever since the first discovery of Tyrannosaurus most scientists have speculated that it was a predator, and that like modern large predators it would readily scavenge or steal another predator's kill if it had the opportunity. [1] Most paleontologists accept that Tyrannosaurus was both an active predator and a scavenger like most large carnivores. [2] Tyrannosaurus has been described as the Apex predator in Late Cretaceous North America. [3]
Evidence suggests hunting behavior in Tyrannosaurus. A skeleton of the hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus annectens has been described from Montana with healed tyrannosaur-inflicted damage on its tail vertebrae. The fact that the damage seems to have healed suggests that the Edmontosaurus survived a tyrannosaur's attack on a living target, i.e. the tyrannosaur had attempted active predation. [4] There is also evidence for an aggressive interaction between a Triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus in the form of partially healed tyrannosaur tooth marks on a Triceratops brow horn and squamosal (a bone of the neck frill); the bitten horn is also broken, with new bone growth after the break. It is not known what the exact nature of the interaction was, though: either animal could have been the aggressor. [5] Since the Triceratops wounds healed, it is most likely that the Triceratops survived the encounter and managed to overcome the Tyrannosaurus. In a battle against a bull Triceratops, the Triceratops would likely defend itself by inflicting fatal wounds to the Tyrannosaurus using its sharp horns. [6]
The eye sockets of tyrannosaurs are positioned so that the eyes would point forward, giving them binocular vision slightly better than that of modern hawks. It is not obvious why natural selection would have favored this long-term trend if tyrannosaurs had been pure scavengers, which would not have needed the advanced depth perception that stereoscopic vision provides. [7] [8]
A study in 2012 by Karl Bates and Peter Falkingham demonstrated that Tyrannosaurus had the most powerful bite of any terrestrial animal that has ever lived, finding an adult Tyrannosaurus could have exerted 35,000 to 57,000 N (7,868 to 12,814 lbf) of force in the back teeth. [9] [10] [11] Even higher estimates were made by Mason B. Meers in 2003. [12]
This allowed it to crush bones during repetitive biting and fully consume the carcasses of large dinosaurs. [13] Stephan Lautenschlager and colleagues calculated that Tyrannosaurus was capable of a maximum jaw gape of around 80 degrees, a necessary adaptation for a wide range of jaw angles to power the creature's strong bite. [14] [15]
Tyrannosaurus, and most other theropods, probably primarily processed carcasses with lateral shakes of the head, like crocodilians. The head was not as maneuverable as the skulls of allosauroids, due to flat joints of the neck vertebrae. [16]
Tyrannosaurus may have had infectious saliva used to kill its prey as shown by serrations (tiny protuberances) on the cutting edges of the teeth are closely spaced, enclosing little chambers. These chambers might have trapped pieces of carcass with bacteria, giving Tyrannosaurus a deadly, infectious bite much like the Komodo dragon was thought to have. [17] [18] Tyrannosaurus's tooth serrations may have been more like cubes in shape than the serrations on a Komodo monitor's teeth, which are rounded. [19]: 214–215
Paleontologist Jack Horner has been a major proponent of view that Tyrannosaurus was not a predator at all but instead was exclusively a scavenger. [19] [20] [21] He has put forward arguments in the popular literature to support the pure scavenger hypothesis:
Stevens2006Binocular
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).jaffe
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).MM03
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).hornerlessem1993
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).dinodictionary
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).HutchinsonGarcia2002TrexSlow
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).manningetal2008
was invoked but never defined (see the
help page).