What?! _T. rex_ 65 ft. high & 98 ft. long? Reuters again!

[tuckr@digital.net]

    Where does Reuters get its (mis)information (see paragraph seven)? Who 
writes this stuff? Will 
someone with credentials *please* set them aright? *My* fulminations to Reuters 
count for naught.
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> T-Rex ate "like a shark"

> LEEDS, England - Tyrannosaurus Rex tore its prey to pieces by grabbing 
> hold with its teeth and shaking its head like a shark, a Russian 
> scientist said Thursday. 

> "Shake-feeding" was the only way to explain why the ferocious dinosaur 
> had a hugely powerful head and neck but relatively tiny front claws, Dr. 
> Theagarten Lingham-Soliar told Britain's main annual science festival. 
> 
> Unveiling his new theory, Lingham-Soliar, of the Russian Academy of 
> Sciences, said: "Any animal, and this has been been established with 
> crocodiles and sharks, that shake feeds needs a heavily reinforced skull 
> ... 
> 
> "These conditions are very well developed in Tyrannosaurus. Another 
> point about shake feeding is that invariably animals that shake feed 
> don't have functional anterior limbs for grasping their prey." 
> 
> The expert dismissed other theories suggesting that Tyrannosaurus was a 
> relatively slow animal which scavenged or rammed its prey. 
> 
> "I don't accept that. It's like you running with your mouth open at a 
> brick wall. You can imagine what can happen to your teeth," he told 
> reporters. 
> 
> Instead, he said, the huge dinosaur -- which grew as high as 65 ft. and 
> could reach 98 ft. in total length -- hunted and ran fast. 
> 
> It either ripped off chunks if the prey was big enough or, more 
> commonly, shook its prey until bite-sized pieces, as big as a man, came 
> off. 
> 
> Sharks, some crocodiles and killer whales show similar feeding habits. 
> Killer whales tossing seals into the air were not playing but breaking 
> up their food, said Lingham-Soliar. 
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                                         --------------------
                                             -= Tuck =-
                                          tuckr@digital.net
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