Could Tyrannosaurus rex have been a scavenger rather than a predator?
Issued: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 00:00:00 GMT Although the most famous of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex still creates controversy among scientists. Some believe that it was a fast-moving fearsome predator, like that depicted in the film Jurassic Park; others believe that it was a sluggish beast that did not attack others but surviving as a scavenger on the carcasses of dead animals, like modern-day vultures. Previous debate has focussed on the locomotive ability and biting strengths suggested by fossil remains but Ruxton and Houston, from the University of Glasgow, have taken a novel approach and asked, " What sort of environment would have provided sufficient food for a scavenger weighing 6 tonnes (as big as an African bull elephant)?" Based on analogy with existing animals, they calculated that an ecosystem as productive as the current Serengeti would have provided sufficient carrion for such a scavenger. Hence T. rex need not have been an active predator and could have survived pur
