Re: T. Rex the hunter (the DMNH Edmontosaurus revisited)

[Richard W Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Thu, 12 Feb 1998, Phillip Bigelow wrote:
> [...]
> The intrinsic problem here is that a predation bite that can
> unequivocally be attributed
> to T. rex would, because it would be an inherently large wound, probably
> kill the 
> prey in the process.
> 
> Perhaps this neural spine was snapped-off after having been stepped on
> while the
> animal was laying on the ground (sleeping, egg-laying, etc)?  The tip of
> the
> neural spine would still remain (essentially, floating) in the animal's
> tissue, while
> the base of the spine heals.  The tip could also have been resorbed
> after it was broken off.
> [...]

Perhaps a fall of some kind. Or rather, the animal was hit, smacked,
or whatever, fell on its back on a rock. That could account for the
specificity.

rich