How Do You Eat a Triceratops? Start By Ripping the Head Off

scibri writes "Once a Tyrannosaurus took down a Triceratops, how did it go about eating it? By looking at the bite marks on Triceratops fossils, a group of paleontologists have pieced together the steps, and created an illustrated guide. Step one? Pull off the head."

Comments

Sounds like

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like an afternoon on bath salts.

Ah Yes! Triceratops ...

[Anonymous Coward]

... the "gummy bear" of dinosaurs.

Step 4

[Bob the Super Hamste]

Step four: feast on the delicacies beneath the frill.

I am so making a T-shirt with these pictures and captions.

The Oatmeal is slacking

[boristdog]

The Oatmeal should have been all over this guide like...well, like a T-rex on a Triceratops.

Taking down a triceratops?

[camperdave]

"Once a Tyrannosaurus took down a Triceratops, how did it go about eating it?"

I thought T-Rex was downgraded from a hunter/killer to a carcass plundering carrion eater, like a buzzard. Besides, didn't these Triceratopses have soft underbellies and such? Seems to me that the neck and face bits would be the LAST to go, not the first.

Re:Taking down a triceratops?

[Chuckstar]

I thought T-Rex was downgraded from a hunter/killer to a carcass plundering carrion eater, like a buzzard.

There's still debate on this subject, but IMHO there's really too much evidence to the contrary to believe that T.Rex was a scavenger specialist (although pretty much all predators will eat carrion when available). The most interesting evidence are fossil bones of T.Rex prey that have partially-healed tooth marks that could only have been made by T.Rex. This is evidence of an animal that survived a T.Rex attack long enough for bone to partially heal (months/years). That would be hard if T.Rex were only a carrion specialist.

There was always a lot of skepticism of the scavenger hypothesis. Just looking at T.Rex would tend to create skepticism. T.Rex is big, muscular, has incredibly strong jaws, lots and lots of sharp piercing teeth... definitely was the scariest thing around at the time. The biggest, scariest meat eater in any ecosystem is rarely a scavenger specialist.

Another problem with the scavenger specialization idea is that T.Rex would have had pretty good binocular vision. Very useful for a predator. Scavengers don't need it so much.

We still don't have good evidence about T.Rex's hunting style, though. I think one of the reasons the scavenger specialist idea has been so intriguing is that people had a hard time figuring out how T.Rex could take down something like Triceratops, given it's pretty tough defenses. Also, there is some evidence that T.Rex would not have been a fast runner, so how did it chase down some of the prey that seems like it would have been fast runners?

When they find the partially-healed T.Rex bite marks I mentioned above, however, they tend to be on the prey's back. This would be pretty standard for a failed take-down, even among today's predators. Was it in fact a fast runner catching up from behind? If so, how did it take down Triceratops, which would probably turn and defend itself. Perhaps T.Rex was an ambush hunter, like today's Komodo Dragons, coming out of large brush and attacking from the side. Maybe T.Rex was a social hunter and surrounded its prey. I like to imagine T.Rex could leap over Triceratops horns, get behind it, get a grip on it's back, and shake it to death... But I have NO evidence for that, it's just fun to imagine.

Re:First shoot it with a .458 magnum - several tim

[K. S. Kyosuke]

And what if the T-Rex is left-handed? How is he going to operate the bolt mechanism? It's not like specialty rifles tend to cater for physiological minorities.

Triceratops

[khr]

Triceratops... It's what's for dinner!

Re:Ah Yes! Triceratops ...

[Genda]

No, more of a Jurassic Pinata.

Re:First shoot it with a .458 magnum - several tim

[Chris Burke]

Surrender is safest and easiest when the enemy is dead.

Re:Ah Yes! Triceratops ...

[Nidi62]

Actually, when I eat gummi bears, I usually eat the legs first, then the arms, then head, leaving the torso for last. Yes, I like my gummi bears to suffer and probably need some professional help.