Re: Trexie and whales..?!

[Robert.J.Meyerson@uwrf.edu (Rob Meyerson)]

>> ... all ecosystems have a top predator ... If T. rex was not the top
>> predator, then who was?  To my knowledge, there is no information of the
>> possible existence of another large theropod ...
>
>  Um, careful, in many present ecosystems the top predator is quite small
>compared to the top herbivore. ( E.g., lion/African elephant, tiger/Indian
>elephant.)  If one were to model a late Cretaceous North American ecosystem
>on the present-day Serengeti, then the top predator might well be a
>lion-sized theropod that took gnu-sized adult herbivores and an occasional
>calf of something larger

Granted.  However, the Serengeti model ultimately falls short, since there=
 is no predator large enough to even consider going after a full grown=
 elephant.  In the Late Cretaceous, we do have T. rex, who would probably be=
 a match for a ceratopsian (if caught off guard).  A great deal more work=
 will have to be done before we will be able to say what carnivore=
 considered Triceratops a part of the menu.

Rob

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