Prehistoric Animal Versus Animal Thread

[Tyrannax]

I've always had an interest in the question of which equally matched species would win in a fight...questions like deinosuchus versus megaladon....T-rex versus spinosaurus.....Terror bird versus deinonychus, etc. But recently a close encounter on a TV show REALLY made me curious.

While watching the Sarcosuchus from Prehistoric park jump out at a young T-rex as it ran after neigel marvin, I started wondering...who would win in a fight between the two heavy-weights?

I believe that the reason for the winning would probably fall upon where the battle takes place. Say if a sarcosuchus is caught on land without a body of water near, I believe a Tyrannosaurus would have no problem killing something its same size that isn't necessarily equiped to fight something without murky water under it's feet. However, in the water, one strike from a giant crocodile would probably not only brake whatever bone the crocodile has chosen to bite, but also drag the tyrannosaurid to it's watery grave. When debating this, remember that these two animals were almost equal in length, weight, and bite strength.

However, i'd like to point out a certain feature that would give the Tyrannosaurus an advantage: it's massive brain. Tyrannosaurus had the largest brain of any dinosaur....it wasn't the smartest compared to its relative body size, but it was much larger than any brain of any animal its size. This might allow the Tyrannosaur to not only use instinct, but also to plan its moves more carefully than a crocodilian would. For example, it could steer clear of the water, or it could stand close enough to the water to allow the crocodile to gain interest, attack and fall into a T-rex trap. The Tyrannosaur might have dodged this and attacked right back in response to the ambush. I know that this scenario seems a bit stretched, but i've witnessed some pretty strange behavior that is surprisingly advanced for lizards too.

This thread is donated to Prehistoric fights. Lets discuss this one first and after a few posts we an start a new animal vs animal debate.

[crazycrowman]

Wasn't that croc on the show the alligatorid Deinosuchus, and not the crocodilian ancestor Sarcosuchus?

[therizinosaurus]

Yup, CCMan's right. He got in from late Creataceous Texas 75 million years ago in episode 6 I think. I'd put my money on a Rex, though

[sbell]

Aug 27, 2008 11:10:34 GMT crazycrowman said:

Wasn't that croc on the show the alligatorid Deinosuchus, and not the crocodilian ancestor Sarcosuchus?

You are correct sir. Sarcosuchus showed up in Land of Giants, a Chased by Dinosaurs show, attacking Nigel.

[Tyrannax]

lol sorry, I watched it yesterday on TV. I kinda started half way through, but i'm gonna buy the whole dvd tomorrow.

[sbell]

Aug 27, 2008 14:48:11 GMT Tyrannax said:

lol sorry, I watched it yesterday on TV. I kinda started half way through, but i'm gonna buy the whole dvd tomorrow.

I highly recommend both programs. Yeah, having Nigel Marven in there seems a little strange, but it gives such a good sense of scale--and he is very good at giving the appropriate sense of awe!

As one review said somewhere, he comes across so believably, that you might think he'll be disappointed when he finds out it was all pretend for TV!

[Tyrannax]

Okay I bought it, watched it, and realized these are the same videos I recorded about a year ago.......Anyway, it is a strong debate which crocodilian ancestor was larger : deinosuchus or sarcosuchus. I believe from reading an article somewhere that they were actually the same size, but a larger specimen of a sarcosuchus tells us that it may have grown larger. We have to remeember though, we've only discovered so many species. For all we know there could have been a T-Rex 50 feet long....this idea really isn't that farfetched as there probably were 50 foot Tyrannosaurs. Sue, being 42 feet, isn't even complete, so it is obvious that there were other, larger specimens walking the earth during the late Cretaceous Period. (Or do you believe we've discovered the biggest Rex that ever lived? lol I doubt it ;)Point is, until we get a larger handful of specimens we will never truly know how large they grew.

Now back on to the general question that started this thread, lol.

[EmperorDinobot]

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

My money is on the deinosuchus. I imagine the deino would have MUCH thicker hide then rex, and all it would take for the dieno to win would be a bite to the chest area.

[Tyrannax]

You never know, T-rex's skin may have been thicker. Besides, his size alone would be enough to keep deinosuchus from attacking.

[stoneage]

Famed paleontologist Jack Horner says that T-Tex couldn't be a predator but just a meer scavenger. He says T-Rex is a wimp. So Deinosuchus would easily have him for lunch. Don't go near the water T-Rex. ;D

[sbell]

Sept 15, 2008 1:05:07 GMT stoneage said:

Famed paleontologist Jack Horner says that T-Tex couldn't be a predator but just a meer scavenger. He says T-Rex is a wimp. So Deinosuchus would easily have him for lunch. Don't go near the water T-Rex. ;D

Yeah, and everyone waits with baited breath to hear what Horner says these days...oh, right, he and Bakeer have been pretty much marginalized because of their poorly constructed ideas and stubbornness regarding those ideas (plus, Horner has recanted, realizing what most people already knew--all meat eaters hunt or scavenge depending on opportunity).

[stoneage]

;D The interesting thing to me is that before Jurassic Park Horner and Baker were considered the Gods of paleontology. ;D

[sbell]

Sept 15, 2008 22:58:24 GMT stoneage said:

;D The interesting thing to me is that before Jurassic Park Horner and Baker were considered the Gods of paleontology. ;D

gods are made to fall.
As it is, I think it's coincidence about those guys' career trajectories. They were big when the movies were made, ergo, they were hired. Then, perhaps the fame got to them, they went a little odd (especially Horner, who is so proud that he got to show T rex eating a long-dead animal :. And in the meantime, science and discovery, and personalities, moved on, but they didn't.

If we can blame the JP movies for anything, it's the reinvention of "Kenny's" in giant monster movies (Gamera fans will know of what I speak).

[stoneage]

;D Well I think there egos got so big they thought they could just phone in there conclusions without doing there homework! ;D

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Sept 15, 2008 0:22:16 GMT Tyrannax said:

You never know, T-rex's skin may have been thicker. Besides, his size alone would be enough to keep deinosuchus from attacking.

Deinosuchus WAS the size of trex, so why wouldn't deino attack? And I doubt a trex would have had skin thicker than a 40 foot alligator.

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

So can anybody post a post about what animals should fight each other? If so:

Megalodon vs. kronosaurus

I'd say the meg would win the fight but it would die later of serious wounds

If not: Ignore this entirely.

[Tyrannax]

Sept 15, 2008 1:05:07 GMT stoneage said:

Famed paleontologist Jack Horner says that T-Tex couldn't be a predator but just a meer scavenger. He says T-Rex is a wimp. So Deinosuchus would easily have him for lunch. Don't go near the water T-Rex. ;D

First of all, Jack horner is a joke. Tyrannosaurus can't be a scavenger. He's got speed, smarts and power. He also had large eyes, something not necessarily needed for scavengers, and he had vision that allowed him to look forward making him a force to be reckoned with when hunting. He most likely would eat carrion if he had the chance, but T-rex was built for attack. If he was a scavenger, then you might as well say albertosaurus, tarbosaurus, and daspletosaurus were all scavengers as well. There is a lot of evidence of scavenging, but there is MORE evidence of predation.

Deinosuchus has the advantage of water - T-rex would get his but whipped. T-rex has advantage of land - Game over for crocodile. This means that both animals were equally dangerous, it just depends where they are at the time Agreed? lol. Heh, sorry if I defend T-rex fiercely :/ People just put him down know a days. You know why? Because he is the symbol of power. King kong? killed rex to show he was powerful to the minds of people. Jurassic park? Spino killed him to show he was powerful. In fact, Rex would tear them both to pieces lol.

Kronosaurus was much smaller then megaladon. It was once though that krono was about 43 feet long, but know it is believed he didn't pass 33 feet in length...Besides, meg is built much stronger then koronosaurus. Try something larger, such a mosasaurus vs meg or a leopleurodon vs meg.

[tomhet]

I bet stoneage was being sarcastic

[stoneage]

;D Yes you are right Tomhet. Tyrannax you are probably right about Megalodon and Kronosaurus. You should ask Dinotoyforum what he thinks since is probably more knowledgeable in this area. ;D