# I have solved the T-Rex problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041 "2006-09-17T05:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/1 "2006-09-17T05:13:14Z")
After watching too much discovery channel I have figured out the T-Rex debate(s). Apparently the people, who were rather generously portrayed as Ross, can’t decide if the T-Rex was a hunter or a scavenger, or if it could run or if it only walked. If it only walked it couldn’t cover enough ground to be a hunter and was a scavenger. However, the T-Rex didn’t run or walk. As I look at the T-Rex I realize a distinct similarity to a modern day animal. The Kangaroo. Obviously the T-Rex hopped around, covering ground very quickly and was therefore, a hunter. Oh and the missing link was in my couch cushions. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/2 "2006-09-17T05:19:08Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] … However, the T-Rex didn’t run or walk. As I look at the T-Rex I realize a distinct similarity to a modern day animal. The Kangaroo. Obviously the T-Rex hopped around, covering ground very quickly and was therefore, a hunter… [/QUOTE] That would be interesting but for the fact that we have some T-Rex trails and no signs of Hopping motion if I remember correctly. If I remember incorrectly, nevermind. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/3 "2006-09-17T05:55:40Z")
T-Rex’s appeal was an underlying “funk”\* groove, hitherto unknow in British “Pop”. Where Marc came up with it is unknown, but he was clearly ahead of his time. \*Undefinable, but we knows it when we hears it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/4 "2006-09-17T06:50:33Z")
There’s a T-Rex problem? Why haven’t I seen any around lately? Oh wait… damn, you _are_ good, **Zebra**. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/5 "2006-09-17T06:55:51Z")
What poppycock! Everyone knows that the funxction of T-rex’s tiny little arms was to clean the teeth of other predators! It was the cleaner wrasse of its day. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/6 "2006-09-17T06:59:58Z")
Come on, imagine a huge T-Rex hopping around like a kangaroo. BOING BOING BOING BOING CHOMP! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/7 "2006-09-17T07:09:16Z")
[QUOTE=thelurkinghorror] There’s a T-Rex problem? Why haven’t I seen any around lately? [/QUOTE] I’ve been snapping my fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/8 "2006-09-17T08:04:23Z")
I thought the T Rex problem was Marc Bolan, a fast car and a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/9 "2006-09-17T12:07:26Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] However, the T-Rex didn’t run or walk. As I look at the T-Rex I realize a distinct similarity to a modern day animal. The Kangaroo. Obviously the T-Rex hopped around, covering ground very quickly and was therefore, a hunter. [/QUOTE] Given that the T Rex weighed several tons, the fossils would all have splintered pelvises. [QUOTE=Zebra] Oh and the missing link was in my couch cushions. Sorry about that. [/QUOTE] Loose change, old Cheetos & fossilzed Pizza slices are the Missing Link? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/10 "2006-09-17T12:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] If it only walked it couldn’t cover enough ground to be a hunter and was a scavenger. [/QUOTE] That’s ridiculous. The killer whale is an excellent hunter even though it can’t walk at all. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/11 "2006-09-17T13:13:12Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Given that the T Rex weighed several tons, the fossils would all have splintered pelvises. [/QUOTE] Not at all. In fact, they began the practice of gellin’ - and there’d be no evidence because prehistoric gel insoles were edible. So that answers that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/12 "2006-09-17T15:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] If it only walked it couldn’t cover enough ground to be a hunter and was a scavenger. [/QUOTE] This point has always struck me as particularly ridiculous, and just shows that most paleontogists know little about ecology. Since recently dead aniimals are much less common than live ones, scavengers have to cover _more_ ground than hunters. Modern scavengers can either fly (vultures, etc) so they can cover enormous amounts of ground, or else are quite small (mainly insects). Most mammals that scavenge, such as hyenas, are primarily predators that just supplement their diet by scavenging when they get the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/13 "2006-09-17T23:58:16Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] After watching too much discovery channel I have figured out the T-Rex debate(s). Apparently the people, who were rather generously portrayed as Ross, can’t decide if the T-Rex was a hunter or a scavenger, or if it could run or if it only walked. If it only walked it couldn’t cover enough ground to be a hunter and was a scavenger. However, the T-Rex didn’t run or walk. As I look at the T-Rex I realize a distinct similarity to a modern day animal. The Kangaroo. Obviously the T-Rex hopped around, covering ground very quickly and was therefore, a hunter. Oh and the missing link was in my couch cushions. Sorry about that. [/QUOTE] Author [Janet Kagan](http://janetkagan.com/bibliog.html) sorta kinda beat you to it in her story “Kangaroo Rex” (included in her wonderfully amusing book Mirabile). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/14 "2006-09-18T00:05:14Z")
This should change a few things in the 100 Acre Woods … ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/15 "2006-09-18T00:08:50Z")
[QUOTE=Typo Knig] Author [Janet Kagan](http://janetkagan.com/bibliog.html) sorta kinda beat you to it in her story “Kangaroo Rex” (included in her wonderfully amusing book Mirabile). [/QUOTE] I just finished _Mirabile_, and it’s one of the best reads I’ve looked at in the last 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/16 "2006-09-18T01:40:14Z")
The problem is that T-Rex roller skates do not get preserved in the fossil record. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/17 "2006-09-18T03:16:44Z")
At first, the discoverer of the dinosaur **Laelaps** (Cope? Damn, I can’t remember) thought that it resembled a kangaroo, and sketched it in a similar pose. Later, dinsaur artist _par excellence_ Charles Knight painted a pair of gamboling Laelaps thuis way: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Laelaps\_by\_Charles\_Knight.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Laelaps_by_Charles_Knight.png) Later on, people decided that dinosaurs, being cold-blooded reptiles, couldn’t gambol like that, despite the skeletal evidence. And Laelaps got re-saddlede with the depressing name _Dryptosaurus_. Nowadays people see the original concepy as probably closer to reality. But Laelaps/Dryptosaurus was man-sized or smaller. The mind boggles at the thought of a caroming T. Rex. [Sylvester] Giant…Mouthhhhhhh![/Sylvester] ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/18 "2006-09-18T03:29:58Z")
What about dancing? Could they be dancing dancing DANCING Rex is a dancing machine Ah babe Ooo oooie baby Post Triassic, he’s Cretaceous Eats carrion and hunts most vicious Tuned and channelled to your Vi-ibes Catapulting and rebounding Rex is such a sexy Dino Built with prehistoric desi-ign Rex is moving and grooving, dancing to the music stop me now yea-ea- ee-eh… ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/19 "2006-09-18T10:37:43Z")
Why I have a Dopecrush on **NoClueBoy** , Part One Bajillion and Three. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2006, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041/20 "2006-09-18T11:10:10Z")
I’m pretty sure they were vegetarians - so the whole debate is moot. Ask Dr Dino. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-solved-the-t-rex-problem/373041.md?page=2)