When Tyrannosaurus Chomped Sauropods

[pylraster]

Found these articles and artwork and I thought they'd be a good read. Not quite groundbreaking but at least it shows there's more to Tyrannosaurus' menu than just ceratopsians and hadrosaurs.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2012/04/when-tyrannosaurus-chomped-sauropods/

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2009/03/see-tyrannosaurus-take-a-bite-out-of-alamosaurus/

[ajax]

Sauropods just look tastier dont they? 

[ZoPteryx]

I knew they lived at roughly the same time and place, but it looks like now they've actually found some evidence of Tyrannosaurus and Alamosaurus in the same formation!  Very cool!

But, Alamaosaurus =100 feet long?

[Joel]

But, Alamaosaurus =100 feet long?

Yes, that was announced somewhat recently: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/12/alamosaurus-gets-pumped-up/
I think it's great that there were enormous sauropods that were living here in the US and at the end of the Cretaceous period.

[juju1305]

So that epic t-rex vs alamo picture was accurate after all 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5117/7161383912_785d7709b9_z.jpg

[Gryphoceratops]

Ah yes, Brian Switek.  His claim to fame is sitting in his comfy house and regurgitating already known information all over the internet.  A professional armchair paleontologist.   

Anyway, yes we have known for a long time Alamosaurus and Tyrannosaurus would have crossed paths.  I think Alamosaurus would have been more rare in that environment than the vastly successful hadrosaurs and ceratopsids though.   

[Gwangi]

Ah yes, Brian Switek.  His claim to fame is sitting in his comfy house and regurgitating already known information all over the internet.  A professional armchair paleontologist.

Why do you gotta take this thread there? He's a writer, that's what he does. I enjoy reading both his blogs (Laelaps and Dinosaur Tracking) and he has a book out I hope to read someday. He may not be a paleontologist but he is good at communicating paleontology to the public. The following is from his blog...

"I do not talk about this very often—the memory is intensely embarrassing—but I never received my bachelor's degree. After spending the better part of a decade working towards a degree in conservation ecology, I left Rutgers University just a handful of courses short of completing my program. Discouraged, disheartened and defeated do not even come close to describing how I felt. But paleontology gave me an outlet for my love of science, and writing about what I learned somehow came together into a career expressing my enthusiasm for creatures that flourished and vanished while our own ancestors were still scurrying through the undergrowth. Someday, I hope, I will go back to school and eventually commit myself to a graduate program in paleontology, but no matter what I do, I want to keep following the tales fossils have to tell."

Reading that can you really fault the guy? I'm in a similar situation to Switek so maybe the comment hits a bit close for me. The guy has managed to make a living for himself doing what he enjoys, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that.

[Horridus]

Ah yes, Brian Switek.  His claim to fame is sitting in his comfy house and regurgitating already known information all over the internet.  A professional armchair paleontologist.   

No, you're mistaking him with me. Brian Switek goes out in the field. Besides which, even if he did just pontificate from a La-Z-Boy recliner, he's so bloody good at science communication that I just wouldn't see fit to put him down. I'm part-way through Written In Stone, and even though I already know about much of the subject matter I'm really rather enjoying it.

[Gryphoceratops]

People I work with knew him from when he was volunteering at the NJ State museum and had issues with him with regards to his blog.  He had a habit of writing about things as if he were there from his desk without giving credit to or mentioning people who were doing the actual work.  One such incident was the dinosaur footprints in NJ where I was one of the people risking my butt on behalf of the museum to dig them out before they were blown up to build townhouses on that land back in 2010.  I have never heard of him going into the field ever.  Maybe he has since.  We don't have to get into it further didn't mean to start drama.  My apologies.   

[Balaur]

And Extreme Dinosaurs on the BBC said the tyrannosaurs and sauropods never lived together... Well, it was the early 2000's then.

[ZoPteryx]

But, Alamaosaurus =100 feet long?

Yes, that was announced somewhat recently: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/12/alamosaurus-gets-pumped-up/
I think it's great that there were enormous sauropods that were living here in the US and at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Thanks Joel, I must have missed the memo!