T. rex Predator or Scavenger

T. rex Predator or Scavenger

(New drawing so it will be at the bottom of the correct list found by clicking on the right buttons.)

The above is a drawing of T. rex or Tyrannosaurus rex as a scavenger.  In his book from a few years ago called The Complete T. rex Jack Horner, the famous paleontologist who is the curator of the Museum of the Rockies... says that he thinks the data shows that T. rex was a scavenger.  This is because T. rex had a huge area in its larger skull dedicated to the sense of smell.  It would have been like a blood hound on steroids.  It could identify everyone in a crowded room just by its sense of smell.   So it could have smelled carrion (dead animal carcass) from miles away.  So THIS drawing of T. rex should be drawn with a red head like a vulture.  Horner also points out that T. rex was very heavily built and probably too slow to chase down prey species.  

I heard Jack Horner speak at a National Science Teachers Convention where he advocated this idea of T. rex as a predator.  He actually pointed out that in science what counts is not what is popular but what counts is:  DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA...  (he said it 17 times as he pounded the pulpit.)

Now, a brief note:  There are other paleontologists who think that T. rex would have been like many modern large predators and would have been BOTH a predator and a scavenger.  In fact it is interesting to note that I heard that Jack Horner changed his mind.  The discovery of a half grown and rather lightly built juvenile T. rex led to the hypothesis that T. rex juveniles were the chasers of prey and the heavily built adults would lie in ambush and wait for the prey species like duckbill dinos be driven to them by the younger and faster T. rex juveniles.    The  discovery of the more lightly built and presumably faster T. rex juveniles was in fact more DATA!   So maybe T. rex WAS both a scavenger AND a predator.  

T. rex colored as a Scavenger

(Notice that the head is colored red, like the head of a vulture.

I did not color it very carefully but I do think you can get the idea..

The ground is near an active volcano so it is a dark brownish or dark grey.)

I should also note that these animals, a T. rex and a Pteranodon were drawn from the Wild Safari toy dinosaurs that are so well made they are more like small museum quality replicas.   I own many of these types of animal toys.  I used them in my Paleontology Club when I taught Science.   I now use them when our grand-kids come over.  And we use them to both play and teach.  These toys are practically indestructible.  

Pteranodon from Wild Safari Ltd.

T. rex from Wild Safari Ltd.  

Tyrannosaurus vs Triceratops

(This would be T. rex as a predator.)

Daspleteosurus on the Prowl

Note:  This dino was probably an ancestor to T. rex 

and it is drawn more lightly built and certainly 

would have been faster than an adult . . like a juvenile T. rex.  

Notice the well muscled legs and smaller lighter body.