Paleontologists from the United States and Canada have claimed that Tyrannosaurus Rex was a cannibal. The paleontologists analyzed marks and gouges on the fossils of the Tyrannosaurus Rex to conclude that the T-Rex was a cannibal. Researchers predicted that it was likely due to the scavenging rather than active hunting.
The T. Rex was the only large, late Cretaceous carnivore in Western North America, said the paleontologists. The findings were published in study titled "Cannibalism in Tyrannosaurus rex." The research was done by Nicholas R. Longrich (Yale), John R. Horner (Montana State), Gregory M. Erickson (Florida State), and Philip J. Currie (University of Alberta).
“We argue that these traces result from feeding, rather than intraspecific combat [...] fighting animals would be expected to inflict wounds to the head or vulnerable areas such as the neck and flanks, and not the feet or arms [...T]he absence of healing in any of these specimens is also consistent with the hypothesis that the tooth marks were made on carcasses,” said Longrich.
Until now, only Majungatholus was known to be cannibal. Longrich added that is likely that some other species were cannibal and a more thorough examination of fossil bones could prove that. Talking about T-Rex, Longrich said, “These animals were some of the largest terrestrial carnivores of all time, and the way they approached eating was fundamentally different from modern species. There's a big mystery around what and how they ate, and this research helps to uncover one piece of the puzzle.” The study was published online in the journal PLoS ONE.
