Tyrannosaurs as Scavengers

I'm with you on that. Some thing on TV once said they were pure scavengers "like hyenas" and I was like, "Um, pardon? Hyenas hunt, too. Hyenas and lions take turns scavenging off each others kills."

I read once that, in fact, hyenas' kill-to-scavange ratio is actually better than lions'.

Figures.

Hyena: "We do more kills than those lazy lions, and who do the humans like? Those lazy lion bastards! Fuck them all! The only reason humans like lions is because they're "prettier." They're "giant kitties." Damned dumb primates. My ancestors should've eaten all their ancestors before they learned how to stand upright... *grumble grumble*"

I'm with Calvin. Tyrannosauruses have to be predators, because it's much cooler that way! ;-)

More seriously, I suspect they probably did favor scavenging, though. Particularly as I've read of studies that indicate that they were probably incapable of running, as, given their height and mass, tripping at a running speed would be fatal. The force they would hit the ground with would crush their skull, and their forelimbs were far too small to stop their fall. And their size would preclude ambush hunting.

With the energy required to move that mass, scavenging would certainly be a more efficient strategy.

Of course, successful scavenging (as in, being the big bad at the feeding site) would allow for more successful hunting as well, with the extra energy reserves.