Re: Tyrannosaurus "Scavenger vs. Predator" debate - Some questions for Dr. Jack Horner:

[Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com>]

I suspect that restraining the horns wasn't a very effective
calorie-obtaining method for T. rex.  In the published case, the
Triceratops apparently lived long enough after the attack to have its
horn bones to partially heal.  The attack failed.  An "almost kill" won't
fill a T. rex's belly.

Triceratops brow and nose horns are one of the most commonly found
skeletal elements for this genus.  There is no logical reason for a
predator/scavenger to bite the horns of a dead Triceratops, because horns
have little food value.  Therefore, one could formulate the hypothesis
that tooth-marked Triceratops horns (including those with unhealed marks)
must have been inflicted while the Triceratops was still alive and
struggling.

It should be easy for a motivated MS or PhD student with a generous
travel budget to study Triceratops horn specimens in museum collections
and see what percentage of the horns are tooth-marked by T. rex, and what
percentage of the tooth-marked horns show evidence of healing.

<pb>
--

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 18:51:27 -0500 Graydon <oak@uniserve.com> writes:
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2004 at 03:37:31PM -0800, Phil Bigelow scripsit:
> > "Michael Schmidt" <dmschmidt@sprint.ca> writes:
> > > I myself have had triceratops horns with rex sized bite marks 
> on
> > > them....all of them with signs of healed tissue surrounding
> > > them......
> > 
> > Seriously, have these tooth marked specimens been published?  
> They
> > appear to provide important behavioral and paleoenvironmental data 
> on
> > both T.  rex and Triceratops.  I'm puzzled, though.  I can 
> understand
> > why a Triceratops would fend-off an attack with its horns, but I 
> am
> > struggling to understand why a T. rex would waste its energy 
> biting
> > the horns of a Triceratops.
> 
> That one is pretty easy; the only manipulatory appendage a 
> tyranosaur
> has is its mouth, so if the Triceratops is trying to stab it with 
> the
> horns, or, just as likely, chunk huge holes in it with that
> tree-chopping beak, grabbing the horns could easily be the best
> available 'not getting poked or bit' option.
> 
> Could be an amazing wrestling match, considering the available 
> strength
> of neck on both sides.
> 
> -- 
> oak@uniserve.com
> 
> 


"Let's get this train outa here.  Those damn bees might be back any
minute." - General Slater, from the movie "The Swarm"


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