Tyrannosaurus Rex Palaeoecology

Palaeoecology of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex

Name: Maria Kristina Ingreso

Student Number: INGMAR004

Lecturer: Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan

Tyrannosaurus formally makes up the clade Tyrannosauroidea and the Tyrannosaurus rex is by far one of the most famous dinosaur of all time. Various aspects of the palaeoecology of the Tyrannosaurus rex could be determined from the interpretations of the fossil record. The taxonomic studies, palaeoenvironmental analysis (i.e. sediment) and the functional studies could aid in understanding the aspects of palaeoecology of the Tyrannosaurus rex (Chinsamy, 2016). The original ecological associations that occured between the Tyrannosaurus rex and its environment could be reconstructed using the different

rex indicating its locomotion. (Benton, 2009)

The feeding strategy of the Tyrannosaurus rex is able to tell us about the palaeoecology of the dinosaur because then we are able to know how they interacted with the other dinosaurs of their time, what kind of prey they hunted for and as a result we are able to know where they existed (Chinsamy, 2016).

Evidence found from bones that had tooth marks, the form of the tooth and coprolites suggests that their feeding strategy was the 'puncture-pull' strategy. Figure 3d is a tooth that indicates that T. rex had poor abilities to cut and this supports the statement that they had a "puncture-pull" feeding strategy (BARRETT and RAYFIELD, 2006). Figure 3b show that the facets in the tooth indicate that the T. rex had a carnivorous lifestyle, meaning that the dinosaur had repeatedly practiced shearing meat between the lower and upper teeth.

They were also capable of producing a powerful biting force (Rayfield, 2004) in Figure 3e the skull analysis shows that the T. rex is adapted to resist powerful, vertical bite forces (BARRETT and RAYFIELD,

The dinosaur was found with a large variety and number of leaves, seeds, fruits and other plant remains that were identifiable which could have been the food source for the Triceratops and the hadrosaurs (Mclver, 2001). The Tyrannosaurus rex were fossilised within the sediments which were sand, the sand was medium to fine grained and the plants that were found with the skeleton were found in both sand and clay sediments. Fish scales and shells of gastropods and clams were also found (Mclver, 2001). This information tells us that the Tyrannosaurus rex was in an environment which most likely was a river stream southwest of Saskatchewan (Mclver, 2001). The dinosaur thrived in areas where were is a moderate amount of heat with winters that weren't cold enough to produce frost and with precipitation that occured seasonally (Mclver, 2001). The plant remains that were recovered were a mixture of broad-leaved plants and coniferous plants that were associated with the herbivorous dinosaur such as the Triceratops and the hadrosaurs (Mclver, 2001). This may suggest the predator-prey relationship between the Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops and the hadrosaurs in this particular area and other areas similar to