Dr. Thomas R. Holtz - T. Rex: Hunter or Scavenger?

The author and editor would like to thank
Dr. Robert T. Bakker for his assistance
in the preparation of this book.

T. rex as Scavenger

The time is 66 million years ago. The place is the vast forest that will one day be the western part of North America.

Striding briskly through the woods, a big Tyrannosaurus rex or T. rex, for short sniffs the hot air in search of its next meal. The T. rex is the largest meat-eater alive at this time. Its name means king of the tyrant lizards. Over 40 feet long and 13 feet high at the hips, no other flesh-eating dinosaur around comes close to it in size.

A big meat-eater like that needs an awful lot of food to keep it going. This T. rex is hungry. Its been a couple of days since its last big meal.

The T. rex stops walking. It smells something on the wind. It is the delicious scent of rotting meat! Mmmmm.

Crashing through the bushes, the T. rex follows its nose to the source of the smellthe dead body of a duckbill Edmontosaurus (ed-MON-toe-SAWR-us). The T. rexs mouth waters. Rotten Edmontosaurus is its favorite food!

The kingdom of T. rex is full of delicious dinosaurs for the eating. There are duckbills, like Edmontosaurus. Horned dinosaurs, like Triceratops (trie-SAIR-a-tops). Fast- running Ornithomimus (or-NITH-o-MIEM-us). There are dome-headed Pachycephalosaurus (PAK-ee-SEF-a-lo-SAWR-us) and armored Ankylosaurus (ANG-ki-lo-SAWR-us). Long-necked Alamosaurus (AL-a-mo-SAWR-us). And a lot more. All of them are food for Tyrannosaurus rex.

T. rex takes a bite out of giant Alamosaurus.

With each bite, the T. rex rips off a chunk of Edmontosaurus meat and bone. T. rex is a messy eater. Pieces of Edmontosaurus go flying in all directions.

The smell of blood and rotten meat attracts others to the feast. First, flies and other insects show up. Then some meat- eating lizards and a few Acheroraptors, or raptor dinosaurs. Most of these animals wait for the T. rex to finish eating. No need to make the big guy mad! But a few dash out of the brush to grab at scraps. None attempts to steal the carcass from the giant tyrannosaur.

The raptors who arrive at the scene are relatives of the vicious Velociraptor of Mongolia. Acheroraptors are deadly. But these raptors only weigh about thirty pounds each. The T. rexs five-foot-long head alone is much larger than an entire Acheroraptor!

And then suddenly, the T. rex stops eating. It lifts its bloody snout into the wind. It smells something. Something in the forest thats coming closer. It is the one thing that a Tyrannosaurus rex fearsanother Tyrannosaurus rex! It must eat quickly, or risk losing its meal to the newcomer.

RRRRRRIPPPP!

Did a scene like this ever take place in the kingdom of T. rex? Probably. Could the scene have begun a different way? Absolutely. For example...