Re[2]: Re theropod scavenging

[Tom Pearce <tpearce@cix.co.uk>]

> Among living species, the Komodo Dragon is the best analogue and komodoensis 
> will track
> wounded (and poisoned prey) for considerable periods until blood loss and 
> septicemia
> overcome it. Of course, this is only a viable tactic for top predators, and 
> for cold-blooded
> ones at that. Said lizard at least sometimes follows its prey for 15 days.
> An endotherm would get pretty hungry and impatient in that time.

I doubt that tyrannosaurs would stay with their prey for that length
of time, but the attack-retreat-wait strategy does seem plausible.
Going back to sharks, I find a look at the hunting strategies of
the Great White is instructive when thinking about the larger
theropods.
The shark stalks along the sea-bottom, apparently identifying prey by
a "search image". For larger prey like _Mirounga angustirostris_
(Northern Elephant Seal) the shark ascends vertically at high speed,
striking the seal from behind & below tearing a massive chunk of flesh
away leaving the seal bleeding to death at the surface. The shark
returns to feed, sawing meat & blubber off the carcass & taking it to
the bottom to swallow.
With smaller prey (_Zalophus californianus_ - the Californian Sea
Lion - or _Phoca vitulina_ - the Harbour Seal) the Great White again
ascends vertically, but will swallow whole the smaller Harbour Seal &
drag beneath the surface the sea-lion.

I'd be interested to find out if this "bite'n'spit" strategy would be
a viable predatory approach for something like _Tyrannosaurus rex_ or
_Giganotosaurus_. I imagine smaller prey (_Ornithomimus_?) could be
dispatched in the same way as the smaller pinnipeds - swallowed whole
or crushed & torn to the ground - but surely with a Rex-sized bite
taken out of the hindquarters, even an adult _Anatotitan_ would be a
fairly quick kill?