> Tim D. wrote-
> >Even that may be dubious if P.Currie is right. He attributed the great
> >variety of LK small theropods to gregarious behavior and pack hunting
among
> >tyrannosaurs. In his view, young tyrannosaurs did not hunt small prey
such
> >as thescelosaurs but feasted on carcasses of large dinos killed by
adults,
> >leaving small predator niches open for other theropods.
> >
>
> But there is still no reason why a young tyrannosaur might not
occasionally
> go after smaller prey. Modern day predators do this too, even in
species
> where the parents bring them food.
Tyrannosaurs may also have brought smaller, albeit crippled, prey back
for the youngsters to hone their deadly skills on.
As far as Currie's idea is concerned; it may well have been true of
SMALL tyrannosaurs (that is, up to about 3 metres long), but how many
other LK North American theropods ranging between 6-9 metres are known?
There seem to be a lot of predatory theropods up to 3 metres in length,
and a few up to 6 metres, but adult forms between 6 and about 9 metres
seem to be rare. Perhaps very young tyrants were fed until they lost
their 'cuteness factor', so that adolescents of the larger 9-12 metre
species were filling the 6-9 metre predator niche.