Cloning the Wolly Mammoth

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Chicxulub said:
Rex's primary prey items were hadrosaurs that were comparable in size to him or larger. He also fed on ceratopsians who were again, comparable in size or larger. To say that rex fed on items smaller than himself simply isn't true. That being said, I don't think he'd turn down a chance at a young hadrosaur or ceratopsian, but most prey items would be older, mature, likely sickly adults. Rex was very much adapted to eat large prey items. He possessed neither the speed or agility to catch something the size of a deer.
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T rex was adapted with a strong bite to hold prey that was smaller than himself, shake it and crush it. The biggest Triceratops is still smaller than a T rex. Hadrosaurs are slightly smaller but compareable. Allosaurus was build to hunt Sauropoda. Animals a few dozens time bigger than himself. Thats the main reason why Allosaurus has a weak bite but sharp teeth. It would not make sense for him to bite into his victims. He hacked with his upper jaws into it to cause wounds and bloodloss. Different strategy of hunting and different prey items. And any hadrosaur or triceratops is small compared to the sauropods.
 
Akuma said:
T rex was adapted with a strong bite to hold prey that was smaller than himself, shake it and crush it. The biggest Triceratops is still smaller than a T rex. Hadrosaurs are slightly smaller but compareable. Allosaurus was build to hunt Sauropoda. Animals a few dozens time bigger than himself. Thats the main reason why Allosaurus has a weak bite but sharp teeth. It would not make sense for him to bite into his victims. He hacked with his upper jaws into it to cause wounds and bloodloss. Different strategy of hunting and different prey items. And any hadrosaur or triceratops is small compared to the sauropods.
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Oh! The age-old debate whether Tyrannosaurus rex is a scavenger or a full-on hunter. How I wish they were more of a dual convergent evolutionary lineage after the Gorgosaurus and the Daspletosaurus have died out. Gorgosaurs hunted the ceratopsians leading to their more robust build due to a heavily armored prey. On the other hand, the Daspletosaurs hunted the less armed hadrosaurs. Seems the rex is more of a gorgosaur, then? Or it could be a scavenger-opportunist?

Aquanero said:
I would like to see a Short Faced Bear............can't leave out the SFB they haven't been gone too long for some good DNA to be floating around somewhere. The spectacled bear could be used thay are supposed to be the closest living relative.
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How about an Androsarchus instead?
 
Akuma said:
T rex was adapted with a strong bite to hold prey that was smaller than himself, shake it and crush it. The biggest Triceratops is still smaller than a T rex. Hadrosaurs are slightly smaller but compareable. Allosaurus was build to hunt Sauropoda. Animals a few dozens time bigger than himself. Thats the main reason why Allosaurus has a weak bite but sharp teeth. It would not make sense for him to bite into his victims. He hacked with his upper jaws into it to cause wounds and bloodloss. Different strategy of hunting and different prey items. And any hadrosaur or triceratops is small compared to the sauropods.
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I never intended to compare a late Cretaceous coelurosaur to a middle Jurassic allosaur; that is an apples and oranges comparison. hatchet bites vs crushing bites are well established with how effective they were. They were both deadly effective, but they were intended to kill different organisms. Theropods with a hatchet bite were, as you said, specialized predators that targeted the large, lumbering, nearly immobile sauropods. Their modus operandi was quite simple. Run in as a pack, gouge out a bunch of chunks of meat, run off, repeat as necessary, and wait for your prey to bleed out.

However, rex was sympatric with animals like Edmontosaurus which was as long as rex and just as massive. To say his prey was 'smaller' is to misrepresent what was likely happening in their world. Rex specimens such as Sue were often larger than most of the orinthopods with which they lived, but your average rex wasn't as big as Sue, either.

Regardless, its apples to oranges. I suspect the reason that rex evolved the hyper powerful jaws that it had was in order to take advantage of a resource from its kills that wasn't being utilized by any other animal in its ecosystem: bone marrow. The carcharodontosaurs, the direct descendents of the allosaurs, had to deal with 'cruncher crocs' such as Baurusuchus, who are thought to be akin to hyenas in their behavior. Rex, not having competition for this resource, adapted to take advantage of it. Of course on top of all that, there were no sauropods in late Cretaceous North America.

Now, here's a question that I'd like to hear some people's input on: At parity (40 ft long, 7 tons) who would win? A hatchet bite Giganotosaurus or a crushing bite Tyrannosaurus rex?
 
Jurassic park didnt end so well lol...but im all for a mammoth come back

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Chicxulub said:
Now, here's a question that I'd like to hear some people's input on: At parity (40 ft long, 7 tons) who would win? A hatchet bite Giganotosaurus or a crushing bite Tyrannosaurus rex?
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Hahaha! I'm with the Giganotosaurus on this one. I will assume that though they are the same length, the carcharodontosaurid will be faster. This can be inferred from an adaptation (i.e. reflexes) that you will need in running away from a tail whip from a Titanosaur like the Argentinosaurus. Being a carcharodontosaurid and probably a pack animal, the same approach will be used: bite a chunk, run and wait for prey to bleed, repeat. That chunky neck will be slower to react if the Giganotosaurus decides to gouge on a rex's lower extremity, say, closer to the hips.

The problem is with luck. A single bite from either will be fatal if done correctly. Both mouths likely harbor tons of bacteria that if a bite is done on a portion close to internal organs, the animal will die from infection.
 
You should take into consideration that T rex was the "Einstein" of Theropods. T rex brain was almost double the size of Giganotosaurus brain. Giganotosaurus had a more "crocodilian" brain while T rex was more like a colossal flightless bird of prey. I bet on the T rex in that aspect. Another advantage of t rex is, that Gigantosaurus specialized on large sauropods as prey. That needs completly different tactics than a T rex uses to catch hadrosaurs. Giganotosaurus is very much the same size as a large hadrosaurus like Lambeosaurus. So it has the typical size of T rex prey. T rex on the other side is something Giganotosaurus does not fight regulary. I´m pretty sure T rex would kill Giganotosaurus. And just look that Tyrannosaurids wiped out any Allosaurids in Eurasia and North America in the late cretacious. Allosaurids could only be found in remote areas like South America, Africa and Antarctica / Australia, where no Tyrannosaurids could reach. So i think its a clear thing.
 
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