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Just had a thought.

  • 28-03-2011 2:43pm
    #1
    Rubecula
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,551 ✭✭✭


    I do not know the answer to this, but a thought occured to me today whilst I was reading a magazine.

    The article stated that crocodiles and alligators see better than humans in the dark. Fair enough, not going to argue the point as I didn't know this before reading the article.

    Anyway I was driving home with this in mind when I just thought to myself....... Was T.rex a night time hunter? It is said to have good sense of smell and binocular vision. It's puny (well comparitively that is) arms would be out of the way in forested areas during darkened hours. It probably could put an a great burst of speed compared to prey which would have settled down for the night.

    Anyway as I said it is just a thought. Anyone got any ideas or answers?


Comments

  • #2
    Adam Khor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭Adam Khor


    T-Rex as a nocturnal ambush hunter sounds scary, I think it's been described like this in some fiction works...

    However I don´t think there's evidence for it being particularly well adapted to a nocturnal lifestyle. To my knowledge, the only predatory dinosaur widely believed to have been a nocturnal hunter is Troodon, which had huge front-facing eyes and asymetrical ears very similar to those of owls. Also, Troodon is one of the dinosaurs found in Alaska where half of the year was relatively dark and good nocturnal vision was a huge advantage. I'm guessing these Arctic troodons (and perhaps all Troodons) had a thick feather coat.

    Back to T-Rex, though, I'd say its possible that it was partially nocturnal but being the supreme predator of its time and place, I guess it could hunt whenever it wanted; tigers and jaguars today (both at the top of the food chain) hunt both during day and during night; sometimes the temperature is more important than the actual time of the day (rest during the hottest hours, hunt when it's cool).

    But I'm sure I do think it an ambush hunter when fully grown. :>


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