T-Rex Not Merely a Scavenger

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Cave men rode T-rexes because they didn't have horses or camels to ride. They got fairly good mileage since a good T-rex could go 400 miles after eating a small duckbill dino.

[A Theist]

Cave men rode T-rexes because they didn't have horses or camels to ride. They got fairly good mileage since a good T-rex could go 400 miles after eating a small duckbill dino.

Cave men rode T-rexes

Yup. Fred and Barney.

[Anomalocaris]

Cave men rode T-rexes because they didn't have horses or camels to ride. They got fairly good mileage since a good T-rex could go 400 miles after eating a small duckbill dino.

It's a bitch if the t-Rex feel like a snack half through the trip, though.

[StealthySkeptic]

Cave men rode T-rexes because they didn't have horses or camels to ride. They got fairly good mileage since a good T-rex could go 400 miles after eating a small duckbill dino.

It's a bitch if the t-Rex feel like a snack half through the trip, though.

It could have been how Fred would get rid of Barney if he ever leered at Wilma, though.

[Gawdzilla]

Horner is an idiot. He says that Triceratops used their horns exclusively for mating displays. "The last place you want to put your defensive armament is on your head." I guess he's never seen a longhorn cow or a Cape buffalo or an elephant.

[Anomalocaris]

I saw a study which suggest t-Rex has the second most acute vision of any dinosaur yet discovered, more acute than that of a hawk and about 5 times more acute than human. It's stereoscopic vision overlap is equal to those humans and better than any other dinosaurs, and it's optical depth perception is probably the best of any animal ever.

This would seem to suggest it is not only a predator, but a very active hunter with a large range, and have highly complex hunter behavior that requires a complex 3 D spatial appreciation of the situation. It seems to me this kind of 3 D spatial perception would not be needed if the prey is big and slow moving, or if your behavior is to simply head in the direction the prey happen to be. Instead it is needed if you plan you action in such a way as to intercept a fast moving prey while moving In a independent path optimized for rapid closure.

Instead of running Into big slow prey with jaws agape, it seems to me its sensory equipment is set up to detect prey from long range, maneuver itself using wind direction and concealment to close range, and then use sophisticated 3D spatial perception to preprogramm its muscles for a coordinated series of motor actions to intercept an alerted and fast moving prey.

[Minimalist]

Or an NFL player.