Is The Tyrannosaurus Rex A Scavenger ?
Whether or not Tyrannosaurus Rex was a scavenger has been hotly debated. The noted Hadrosaur expert Jack Horner, and in 1917, the paleontologist Lambe put forth compelling arguments in support of T. Rex being a scavenger and living off other predator’s kills. Lambe believed it to be a close relative of Gorgosaurus -- a known scavenger -- because of skeletal similarities so concluded this extended to parallel feeding habits. |
To support his hypothesis he pointed out to the negligible wear in the Gorgosaurus’ teeth indicating its proclivity to scavenge rather than hunt its own prey. But this argument has since been debunked because it is now believed that the T.Rex, like all theropods, was capable of replacing its teeth very frequently.
Horner’s case rests largely on the purpose for the well developed olfactory bulbs and olfactory nerves in relation to the brain size, typical to scavengers. The development is suggestive of the ability of T. Rex to scent carcasses at great distances with its acute sense of smell. This is similar to the manner of modern vultures, present day scavengers. But opponents to this theory have turned the argument on its head. Their contention is that the only genuine scavengers today are big gliding birds which scavenge with the advantage of their keen senses and energy-efficient gliding. Horner contended that the T. Rex had powerful teeth to crush bone to extract the maximum out of nutrition from carcass remains. But countering this is the argument that unlike hyenas, the true modern day scavenger, the T. Rex teeth were not adapted to systematic chewing as a hyena does to reach the bone marrow.
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