Jan. 26, 2011 Tyrannosaurus rex hunted like a lion, rather than
regularly scavenging like a hyena, reveals new research
published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The
findings end a long-running debate about the hunting behaviour
of this awesome predator. Scientists from the Zoological Society
of London (ZSL) used an ecological model based on predator
relationships in the Serengeti to determine whether scavenging
would have been an effective feeding strategy for T. rex.
Previous attempts to answer the question about T. rex's hunting
behaviour have focused on its morphology. The flaw in this
approach is that two species can possess similar physical
features and still have very different hunting strategies, such
as vultures and eagles. Lead author Dr Chris Carbone, says "By
understanding the ecological forces at work, we have been able
to show that scavenging was not a viable option for T. rex as it
was out-competed by smaller, more abundant predatory dinosaurs.
"These smaller species would ha