New Fossil Evidence Of Predation By Tyrannosaurus Rex

[suspsy]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/02/21/tyrannosaur-teeth-duckbill-skin/1933843/

Feeling hungry? Well, take heart. Even the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex didn't always nab dinner, paleontologists say.

They cite the first unequivocal evidence that a duckbill dinosaur managed to escape from one of these ancient top predators. The tale is written on the duckbill's fossilized skin and skull.

Resembling an alligator's hide, the skin was discovered next to the skull, which carries healed bone scars from bites, say paleontologists Bruce Rothschild of the University of Kansas in Lawrence and Robert Depalma of the Palm Beach Museum of Natural History in Fort Lauderdale. "The spacing of large tooth drags on the skull bones is consistent with a very large tyrannosaurid, probably Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Reporting in the Cretaceous Research journal, they note the skull and skin of the large adult duckbill dinosaur dates to around 66 million years ago, around the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. The specimens were excavated in the Hell Creek region of Montana, renowned for past Tyrannosaurus and duckbill dinosaur discoveries. Duckbills were the cows of the dinosaur era, plant eaters often seen as prey for the carnivores of the time.

"Healing skin injuries appear to be rare in the fossil record for good reason – prey rarely escapes once the attacker latches onto it," the paleontologists say. In this case, the duckbill hide bears signs of numerous healed bites and even bone damage, marks resembling healing that takes at least three weeks in modern reptiles. The researchers call for more study of fossilized dinosaur skins to add to their findings, which may provide evidence for debate over whether T. Rex was more of a hunter or a scavenger.

Suck on it, Horner!

[gorgosaurus]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/02/21/tyrannosaur-teeth-duckbill-skin/1933843/

Suck on it, Horner!

Might this not be interpreted, by some, as evidence that Tyrannosaurus was unable to take down large prey? The animal obviously survived a failed attack long enough (weeks at least) for substantial healing. Nor was the animal consumed upon its later demise, as its fossilised remains testify. 
Spike.

[Seijun]

By the description though, it sounds like he came pretty darn close!

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Well I can tell you exactly what Horner will say. He will quietly lean forward, look straight at you and explain this is clearly a case of Pack hunting by duckbills, where one of the attackers was injured trying to take down a tyrannosaurus.

[suspsy]

Might this not be interpreted, by some, as evidence that Tyrannosaurus was unable to take down large prey? The animal obviously survived a failed attack long enough (weeks at least) for substantial healing. Nor was the animal consumed upon its later demise, as its fossilised remains testify. 
Spike.

That's ridiculous. Plenty of moose survive wolf attacks, plenty of buffalo survive lion attacks, and plenty of elephant seals survive great white shark attacks. Does that in any way prove that wolves, lions, and great white sharks are incapable of taking down large prey?

Anyone who interprets the evidence that way is only fooling themselves.

[Dikiyoba]

I thought there was a hadrosaur discovered several years (at least) back that had Tyrannosaurus tooth marks on damaged but healed tail vertebrae.

Meh, looks like just bad reporting on a scientific paper, although in this case it's hard to put all the blame the reporter. "This is the first unequivocal report of dinosaur tissue response to dermal pathology and evidences behavior – escape from a predator." Really? That's what you think good, clear scientific writing is?

[ZoPteryx]

What I find most interesting is that the bite marks are on the face!  That was one lucky hadrosaur!  Perhaps this find gives us some insight into T. rex's hunting behavior: when hunting hadrosaurs, perhaps T. rex subdued them by attempting to crush their skulls!