As an archaeologist I feel some of these posts could do with a bit of straightening out
Megacherv said:
Isn't it known that a Spinosaurus can (well, could) kill a T-Rex?
Only if you're the second sequel in a certain Jurassic-themed movie series. Spinosaurus was smaller than a T-rex, adapted for eating fish, and that sail on its back is a major weak spot as damaging it would have caused massive blood-loss
Furious Styles said:
T-rex's were surprisingly rubbish, all slow and lumbering. I'd go for the velociraptors, they could all jump on it like wolves taking down an elk. Also they were smart (although how scientists know that I don't know, brain size probably) so would be more effective hunters.
Or a Giganotosaurus, those things were badassed
T-Rex was neither slow nor lumbering. It had hollow bones helping in weight, a long stride and powerful legs muscles, it could charge damn fast when it wanted to, certainly faster than a turkey-sized velociraptor. There was a balance issue with those massive jaws, but thats what the ram-rod tail was for, it was a counter-weight for balance.
Also, wolves tackling an elk have the distinct advantage of not being much smaller than the elk, and the elk having only antlers to fight back with, not claws and teeth of its own. The raptors of JP were much bigger than they were in real life, closer to Deinonychus, and that toe-claw is somewhat exaggerated. In real life velociraptors weren't so good at sustained combat, only ambushing in numbers. Ever seen famous fossils of the protoceratops locked in combat with a velociraptor? The raptor is roughly the same size as the ceratopsian, yet still couldn't bring it down. There is also no evidence suggesting velociraptor was especially smart, and little to suggests they even worked in packs. The fossils I just mention show only one velociraptor working against the protoceratops, nothing suggests the presence of any more
A T-rex could quite happily kill a velociraptor with a single blow from tail, leg or mouth. The raptors could only win if there were about a hundred of them, or they were clever enough to grab a weapon.
Trivun said:
The velociraptor pack would devour a T-Rex. They have the advantage of numbers, and a group could easily work to hunt down a T-Rex by flanking and attacking swiftly before the T-Rex could fight back. By the same methods, they could wipe out all of those creatures. Seriously, the velociraptors are well known by the paleontological community to be one of the toughest, best predators of all the dinosaurs. They should easily win this poll.
You can only flank the T-rex in a "Clever Girl" scenario if it doesn't see, hear or smell you coming. Good luck with that. It's skull isn't just adapted for biting, it had remarkably good vision and a highly-developed sense of smell. This is assuming the raptors are even working together that well as a pack, for reasons I mentioned previously.
I don't know what paleontological community you're tapping into, because velociraptor is far from some pristine example of what dinosaurs should be. It wasn't especially large, they weren't killing machines (that famous claw of theirs was only good for stabbing, it could not rapidly slice through skin and fat to eviscerate something), nothing points to above-average intelligence (unlike, say, Troodon, with its large eyes and brain cavity), and was most likely not a pack predator.
Even in Jurassic park, with it's souped up hyper-raptors, the T-rex wins. It would have done so in real-life as well
