Speculations about the carrion‐locating ability of tyrannosaurs

Abstract

Tyrannosaurs and other large carnivorous dinosaurs were probably opportunistic flesh‐eaters, both attacking live prey and also consuming carrion. As tall bipeds, tyrannosaurs may have been better able to locate carcasses than were their shorter contemporaries. By carrying their heads well off the ground, tyrannosaurs may have been able to spot dead animals a greater distance away from themselves than could shorter carnivores, and their line of sight to a carcass was less likely to have been blocked by ground vegetation. In addition, the elevated position of the nostrils of a tyrannosaur may have permitted the dinosaur more quickly to detect the scent of carrion than was possible for carnivores whose noses were closer to the ground.