Re: T rex as scavenger (again....)

[ornstn@inforamp.net (Ronald Orenstein)]

>I took notes during Horner's "T.rex as scavenger" talk; his points are
>summarized below.  I am still unconvinced, but I now have a much better
>appreciation for that viewpoint.  His arguments are:
>
>       - Predators *need* arms to catch prey.
>         T.rex arms are too small, with too limited movement to be used
>         to catch prey.

Must be a lot of hungry birds out there!  I wonder how the phorusracids managed?

>       - Predators need good vision, therefore large eyes.
>         T.rex had comparatively small eyes, and small optic lobe.

Um, how good does your vision have to be to spot a full-sized dinosaur in
broad daylight?

>       - T.rex had unusually large olfactory lobe; implies especially
>         acute sense of smell.  Only 2 other animals in history ever had a 
>         proportionally larger olfactory lobe:  kiwi and turkey vulture,
>         one of which is a scavenger.

And the other of which isn't.  Not too convincing.  Besides, maybe its prey
stank?
>
>       - T.rex teeth are often found among mono-specific bone bed sites;
>         implies T.rex was scavenging the mass deaths in herbivore herds.

I don't think there is any reason to say T. rex never scavenged.  Hyenas
both hunt and scavenge.  So do lions.

>These are good arguments, but I believe there are good rebuttals to each.
>Certainly T.rex scavenged opportunistically, but I still don't buy Horner's
>scavenger-only idea.

We'll never know, but I doubt it.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein                           Phone: (905) 820-7886 (home)
International Wildlife Coalition              Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116 (home)
Home: 1825 Shady Creek Court                  Messages: (416) 368-4661
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2          Internet: ornstn@inforamp.net
Office: 130 Adelaide Street W., Suite 1940    
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 3P5