Killer Reputation: T. Rex May Have Been a Cannibal
28 replies, posted
[quote] Tyrannosaurus Rex may have had an unlikely enemy: its own kind.
A paleontologist at Yale University has uncovered evidence that the fearsome carnivore, one of the largest ever to walk the Earth, may have been a cannibal who sometimes dined on fellow T. rexes.
Nick Longrich first got the idea after noticing what appeared to be T. rex bite marks on the ancient toe bone of one of the killer beasts.
After that discovery, he scoured fossil records in the United States and Canada, eventually coming up with three more instances of a T. rex apparently making a meal out of its own.
Getty Images
Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the planet millions of years ago during the Cretaceous period.
"Until now we had only one documented example of cannibalism in dinosaurs, so you'd tend to assume it's pretty rare," Longrich told LiveScience. "All of a sudden, we have four examples of cannibalism in T. rex. So that's definitely a surprise."
It's not unusual for carnivores to chow down on their own species. A crocodile will happily eat another croc, while even pigs, which are omnivores, will eat a pig carcass if they can.
What's not clear is whether the T. rex was an opportunistic scavenger of T. rex carcasses, or whether the dinosaurs would actually fight one another.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some sort of intraspecies combat going on," Longrich told National Geographic.
"We see that today when animals like bears and lions take each other out. They are competing with one another, and the best way to get rid of your competitor is to get rid of him for good."
The T. rex roamed the planet more than 65 millions years ago during the Cretaceous period. Fossil records suggest it was about 40 feet long and stood as high as 20 feet.
Its serrated, conical teeth may have allowed it to bite off as much as 500 pounds of meat in a single mouthful. There's also evidence to suggest the creature's jaws were powerful enough to shatter bones.
"T. rex was just so powerful, with those teeth like railroad spikes, that it left deep puncture marks," Gregory Erickson, co-author of the T. rex study, told National Geographic. [/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/tyrannosaurus-rex-may-have-been-a-cannibal/19676805?icid=main|main|dl1|sec1_lnk1|178117[/url]
I imagine that like a lot of reptiles they would be cannibals anyway, I mean food's food right?
For some reason this doesn't come as a surprise to me.
T-Rex vs. T-Rex would be AWESOME.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;25444472]T-Rex vs. T-Rex would be AWESOME.[/QUOTE]
holy shit just picture that in your head
They became much more awesome right now.
I wouldn't be surprised if cannibalism back in the Jurassic period was common among a lot of the dinosaurs.
Cannibalism is common in animals period.
The only thing that could make this more awesome would be if T-Rexes shot lasers when they roared.
[QUOTE=Murkat;25446297]The only thing that could make this more awesome would be if T-Rexes shot lasers when they roared.[/QUOTE]
I think there was a flash game based on that idea.
I read it as cannabis.
I thought this was common knowledge. I'm not trying to be an ass I'm serious. I naturally assumed that T-rex's would most definitely fight and kill each other for food.
brvtal
All three Jurassic Park movies were on TV last night.
This talk of dinosaurs pleases me.
Albert T. Rex:
Extinct.
Carnivore.
Scavenger.
Cannibal.
Wimpy armed
Totally awesome.
Doesn't surprises me.
If you feed chickens anything, they'll eat it. You could feed them other chickens even.
[QUOTE=bravehat;25444378]I imagine that like a lot of reptiles they would be cannibals anyway, I mean food's food right?[/QUOTE]
You do realize that Dinosaurs were the ascendants of BIRDS right?
[QUOTE=HappyCompy;25462783]You do realize that Dinosaurs were the ascendants of BIRDS right?[/QUOTE]
Yes and no, birds are thought to have branched off from a common ancestor.
What? It's new? I've thought for years that most dinosaurs did this.
:confused:
They also say that the T. Rex was a complete and utter pussy.
I thought they already knew this... The term, "Dog eat Dog" world didn't come without reason when describing pre-historic.
[QUOTE=skynrdfan2;25444653]holy shit just picture that in your head[/QUOTE]
i just imagine them trying to hit each other with their arms but their heads keep bumping each other
[QUOTE=I Broke The Sun!;25445710]I wouldn't be surprised if cannibalism back in the Jurassic period was common among a lot of the dinosaurs.[/QUOTE]
It is.
Your baby died? eat it! I've seen that in the shows.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;25444472]T-Rex vs. T-Rex would be AWESOME.[/QUOTE]
What about Human vs. T-Rex?
:smug:
Laser T-Rex vs. Medieval T-Rex.
"Its serrated, conical teeth may have allowed it to bite off as much as 500 pounds of meat in a single mouthful."
My god. That's the size of a small cow. An entire fucking cow in one bite.
Bite-sized cows. Just think about that.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;25444472]T-Rex vs. T-Rex would be AWESOME.[/QUOTE]
It could only be beaten if Soviet Vikings crossbred them with Bears and Charged into battle with them
They should have had a T-Rex fight another T-Rex in Jurassic Park 3, instead of that gay Spinosaurus shit
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