T-Rex Probably Lived In Packs

[Doc Reeves 6434]

neat.

 

'The tipping point:' First T. rex mass death site in southern US, found in Utah, strengthens evidence of pack behavior

 

 

Quote

'The tipping point:' First T. rex mass death site in southern US, found in Utah, strengthens evidence of pack behavior

9:16 pm EDT Apr. 19, 2021

The Tyrannosaurus rex may not have been as solitary as we believed.

In a groundbreaking discovery of the first T. rex mass death site in the southern U.S., announced Monday by the Utah Bureau of Land Management, scientists found evidence of pack-like behavior among the famous ancient predator in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 

"The new Utah site adds to the growing body of evidence showing that tyrannosaurs were complex, large predators capable of social behaviors common in many of their living relatives, the birds,” said Dr. Joe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

“This discovery should be the tipping point for reconsidering how these top carnivores behaved and hunted across the northern hemisphere during the Cretaceous.”

In the past, paleontologists have long debated whether the huge dinosaurs lived and hunted alone or in groups.

However, with other findings of pack formations in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, the Utah finding may fossilize the belief of a social T. rex.

In the Canadian discovery, 12 individuals found over 20 years ago by Dr. Philip Currie, many scientists doubted T. rexes had the brainpower to organize into anything complex and thought it was an isolated case. Montana's site built upon the social theory, but now this third site may bring more certainty to the idea.

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At the Rainbows and Unicorns site in the Kaiparowits unit of the monument, named for the unbelievable discoveries found there, scientists have been working toward the social dinosaur conclusion since 2014.

“We realized right away this site could potentially be used to test the social tyrannosaur idea. Unfortunately, the site’s ancient history is complicated,” said Dr. Alan Titus, a BLM paleontologist.

A pack of four, possibly five, Teratophoneus T. rexes seemed to have died from a seasonal flood after a slow-burn fire between 66 and 100 million years ago. Turtles, fish, rays, alligators and two other kinds of dinosaurs were also found during the dig.

Later, their bones were exhumed by a flowing river and reburied, making the find more perplexing.

The research of Dr. Celina Suarez, an associate professor of geology at the University of Arkansas, and her former Ph.D. student, Dr. Daigo Yamamura, definitively showed the dinosaurs were moving in a pack.

None of the physical evidence conclusively suggested that these organisms came to be fossilized together, so we turned to geochemistry to see if that could help us. The similarity of rare earth element patterns is highly suggestive that these organisms died and were fossilized together,” Suarez said.

Excavation will continue "into the foreseeable future," according to a press release, and will include more research into the T. rex's behavior.

 

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4979]

I feel like there is a joke about mormons in here somewhere, but I can't quite put my hands on it. 

[thunderlounge 7963]

Don’t we have a paleontologist or similar running around here somewhere? He had some good insights on these types of things and was pretty interesting. 

[Post Oak 20298]

Well that's terrifying 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

2 minutes ago, Post Oak said:

Well that's terrifying 

It's positively tyrannical....

[Da Fino 2785]

They had keen eyes.

[thunderlounge 7963]

So big ass versions of velociraptors, albeit a tick slower due to size? Fuck that shit.

 

[Armybrat 40938]

6 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I feel like there is a joke about mormons in here somewhere, but I can't quite put my hands on it. 

Iswydt

 

[DougO 5256]

Supposedly, they evolved into chickens, so they were probably all pecking the ground for corn.

[achooloco 1086]

cool article and I know they're technically right but calling parts of Utah the southern U.S. just seems ... off. 

[smuggs 9353]

New simulation estimates the T-Rex walking speed was 2.86 mph or the speed of your average outlet mall warrior:

https://www.livescience.com/t-rex-slow-walker-tail.html

 

[DougO 5256]

On 4/26/2021 at 9:52 AM, smuggs said:

New simulation estimates the T-Rex walking speed was 2.86 mph or the speed of your average outlet mall warrior:

https://www.livescience.com/t-rex-slow-walker-tail.html

 

So Star Trek pretty much nailed it...again.

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by DougO

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

7 minutes ago, DougO said:

So Star Trek pretty much nailed it...again.

 

Why don't he bite him with all those pointy teeth ?!

[thunderlounge 7963]

48 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Why don't he bite him with all those pointy teeth ?!

No toothbrush?

[DougO 5256]

Apparently, humans taste like shit.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, DougO said:

Apparently, humans taste like shit.

Tell that to Uncle Boobs

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

On 4/27/2021 at 4:29 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

Why don't he bite him with all those pointy teeth ?!

 

On 4/27/2021 at 5:18 PM, thunderlounge said:

No toothbrush?

I bet that makes him ornery.

[thunderlounge 7963]

Them cavemen had it right. Throw some t-rex over a fire, smoke that shit up. Bet the ribs were killer. 

[Deej 76976]

9 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

Them cavemen had it right. Throw some t-rex over a fire, smoke that shit up. Bet the ribs were killer.