Fossils, Fins and Fangs

Last Updated (Monday, 03 November 2008 16:38) Written by Raymond Nakamura

Here's my cell phone shot of the T rexplica in the Fossils, Fins and Fangs show. This image is not meant to imply in any way that humans and dinosaurs ever lived at the same time.

Was T. rex a Predator or a Scavenger?
Jack Horner (the technical advisor for Jurassic Park, not the one who sat in the corner) has argued that Tyrannosaurus rex was a scavenger rather than a predator (contrary to its depiction in popular culture).

The Better to Smell You With
One of the reasons for the scavenger hypothesis was the large olfactory bulbs on its brain, used for smelling, which resembled scavengers like the turkey vulture. Calgary-based paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky told me, "The olfactory bulbs (of T rex) are about the size of a strawberry, in comparison to a human, which are the size of a pea."

Dr. Zelenitsky was involved in a recent study comparing the olfactory bulbs of T rex and various meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods as well as living scavengers and predators. They scanned the brain cavities to estimate the shapes and sizes of the olfactory bulbs. "In living birds," she said, "Scavengers and predators can both have large olfactory bulbs, so bulb size is not a good indicator of such feeding behaviours."

Another One Bites the Dust?
Sometimes features are inherited from common ancestors, rather than being specific adaptations to a way of life. A good sense of smell does seem like a useful attribute for a predator.

So dinosaur fans can still cling to the treasured notion of T. rex as a scary predator, though it probably wouldn't turn up its nose at previously killed meat.

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