Re: Flock Carnivores Discovered!

[Stan Friesen <swf@ElSegundoCA.ATTGIS.COM>]

>From: Lars_Bergquist@public.se (Lars Bergquist)
 > Many predators, including raptors such as eagles, eat carrion
 > regularly (see my other posting tonight).

I would go even further than that.
I am hard pressed to think of a predator much larger than a
cat that *doesn't* take carrion when available.

Thus eating carrion is an insufficient reason to call something
a scavenger.

For this reason, I have no doubt at all that T. rex and kin ate
carrion from time to time.  I mean, why pass up a free meal?
[and indeed, at that size, it probably couldn't afford to
pass up any meal that was available].

But, as Dr. Holtz's excellent analyis shows, it is clearly
adapted to active hunting, so it almost certainly also went
out and acquired its own meals as well.

Whether it hunted in groups or not is another matter, and more
difficult to answer.  What one really wants is a good trackway
showing a hunt, but we do not have one for a tyrannosaurid.

swf@elsegundoca.attgis.com              sarima@netcom.com

The peace of God be with you.