Tyrannosaurus rex is known to be one of the largest and most ferocious land predators. Students who have seen Jurassic Park should be very familiar with Tyrannosaurus.
Recently published in a scientific journal about the latest study of Tyrannosaurus rex, archaeologists from the number of fossils to estimate the total number of tyrannosaurs that once lived in North America is about 2.5 billion, which is also the first study to estimate the number of tyrannosaurs. 2.5 billion, that number sounds staggering, after all, Tyrannosaurus rex was quite large.
The University of California Museum of Paleontology studies the total number of tyrannosaurs from the number of existing fossils, taking into account the formation conditions of fossils, and the difficulty of preservation. Studies have shown that on average, only one fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex is preserved. According to the rules of biological rule of thumb, the larger the individual, the theoretically smaller the number of biological individuals. Tyrannosaurus rex survived for about 3 million years at the end of the Cretaceous period. Using the density of dinosaur populations multiplied by land area, physicists estimated that at least 20,000 tyrannosaurs would live on Earth at about every 40 square miles, and about one tyrannosaur would be every 40 square miles.
Standing at the top of the food chain pyramid, the tyrannosaurus rex can reach about 13 meters in length and weigh an average of about 9 tons. Its body is very strong, with thick bones, far from being comparable to other carnivorous dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus rex had teeth up to 20 centimeters and were born specifically to attack other dinosaurs. Its strongest weapon was the strongest bite force among the land carnivorous dinosaurs, reaching a strength of six tons. Perhaps, some carnivorous dinosaurs will be longer than tyrannosaurs, but other species of bodies are more slender and slender, and tyrannosaurs are very stout, basically for the purpose of predatory design.
So at the end of the Cretaceous period, while the Tyrannosaurus dominated the land, were there any other dinosaurs who could defeat it or even kill it? Scientists have given the answer, and that is yes.
You may have seen the scene in "Jurassic Park" where the spinosaurus killed the tyrannosaurus in one mouth, but it is actually impossible to happen. First of all, Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus were creatures of different ages, and Spinosaurus appeared at least ten million years earlier than Tyrannosaurus, and they could not meet.
And although the spinosaurus is larger than the tyrannosaurus, but the body strength and bite force are far less than the tyrannosaurus, and the spinosaurus is mainly predatory, the teeth are not an aggressive design, so even if the two meet, the spinosaurus should not be able to defeat the tyrannosaurus.
So which dinosaur had the chance to defeat Tyrannosaurus rex by challenge alone? And it is not a juvenile tyrannosaur that is still growing, but an adult tyrannosaur.
The three dinosaurs proposed by scholars have the opportunity to defeat adult tyrannosaurs. These three dinosaurs and tyrannosaurs lived in the same age and region, so they met at the end of the Cretaceous period, which may surprise everyone.
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus is a defense expert with a tail hammer, and its biggest feature is the defense of its back. Ankylosaurs had armor made up of large and small pieces of armor that covered from the head to the hips. Hard scales, combined with the stratum corneum between the bone plates, form intradermal bone. This structure is also found in today's crocodiles and lizards, but it is not as strong as that of ankylosaurs. Under the microscope, these dorsal armor have a complex tissue of bone collagen fibers, like a lightweight body armor woven from special materials, so it is also jokingly called the Cretaceous defense master.
It is speculated that the ankylosaurs were 6 to 10 meters long and weighed 4 to 8 tons. The Body of the Ankylosaurus is as large as a tank, and it is almost as difficult to conquer as a tank. The armor on the ankylosaur was unusually tough enough to withstand the attack of the tyrannosaurus's 20 cm long sharp teeth, and although the tyrannosaur had the advantage in size, there was no sign of being attacked by the tyrannosaurus from the fossil of the ankylosaur.
In addition to the hard back plate, the tail end of the ankylosaurus also had a tail hammer of more than 50 kilograms, which was joined by seven bones, which was hard and heavy. Some scholars believe that if you can accurately swing the tail hammer, you can even break the bones of the tyrannosaurus, which has a lethality that cannot be underestimated. So when these two dinosaurs meet and fight, the ankylosaur will do its best to resist the attack of the tyrannosaurus with the armor on its back, after all, its center of gravity is relatively low, first take a defensive posture, and then find a way to take the opportunity to swing and swing the tail hammer. If you swing it to the feet of the tyrannosaurus with all your strength, it may cause the tyrannosaurus to suffer a lot of pain or even fractures, which will slow down the tyrannosaurus's ability to move and even fall to the ground. If you are lucky enough to hit the tyrannosaur dragon head, the first blow may cause the tyrannosaurus to briefly dizzy, and the second stroke may cause the tyrannosaurus to bleed inside the skull and fall to the ground, like a boxer who continuously punches the opponent left and right. But the premise of these is that if it is not quickly bitten by the neck of the tyrannosaurus, or if the ankylosaur is not unfortunately exposed by the soft abdomen of the tyrannosaurus, if this happens, the ankylosaur can only become food, but in fact, there is no trace of predator attack on the ankylosaur. It can be seen that carnivorous dinosaurs are not willing to touch this hard-shelled guy, it is too laborious to eat it, it is better to pick other good targets, so it is likely that Tyrannosaurus and Ankylosaurus, the two lived peacefully in Cretaceous North America.
Triceratops
As the last dinosaur to appear in the Cretaceous Period, Triceratops can be said to be very representative, one of the most famous herbivorous dinosaurs, its size is huge, comparable to an elephant, adult Triceratops body length between 7 and 9 meters, height of about 3 meters, weight 6 to 12 tons.
If the Triceratops were to be placed in modern times, it would certainly be a first-class behemoth on land. The most remarkable thing is that they have a huge head shield and three long horns, which is also the origin of their name.
The use of the head shield of the Triceratops and the three horns on the head shield is still controversial.
Some scholars believe that the head structure of the Triceratops is like a combination of spear and shield. Both attack and defense power, it can be said that the attack and defense are integrated, and it is a weapon evolved to resist the torture and killing of carnivorous dinosaurs.
Some scholars believe that these structures may only be a means for male triceratops to attract the opposite sex, similar to some modern animals, such as goats, elk, etc., whose horn functions are similar.
The limbs of the Triceratops were very thick and powerful, the forelimbs stretched to the sides of the chest, and the center of gravity of the body was depressed, allowing the Triceratops to grasp the ground and attack forward with its strong limbs. So when tyrannosaurs want to attack Triceratops, they will first use their head shields for defense, and even constantly turn their heads and wield long horns to attack Tyrannosaurus. The strongest weapon of the Triceratops is, of course, the diagonal, if it aims at the throat, chest, abdomen and other parts of the more fragile front of the Tyrannosaurus, it will run forward and sprint forward. The long horns may pierce the body of the tyrannosaurus, causing injuries to vital organs such as the lungs or heart, and eventually bleeding too much to death, just as now a bullfighter accidentally stabbed to death by a bull's horn. But if the Tyrannosaurus rex took the lead, found a gap to bite the fragile neck behind the shield of the Triceratops, or raided from behind, the Triceratops would eventually be defeated.
According to fossil evidence, Triceratops was actually the main food source of Tyrannosaurus rex at that time, but perhaps as long as the only chance of fatal blows, it may still be able to escape under the clutches of tyrannosaurus.
Alamoron
Sauropods are the most spectacular creatures on Earth, and they are the most representative herbivores of the Mesozoic Era, with a huge body, a long neck and a long tail.
The most well-known large sauropod dinosaurs are nothing more than Thundersaurus or Lepidoptera. At the end of the Cretaceous period, a sauropod giant appeared in North America, which was the Ara dragon. It is estimated to be more than 45 meters long and weigh more than 100 tons.
In recent studies, based on vertebrae and limb bones, it has been speculated that Alamosaurus may have even surpassed Argentinosaurus. According to fossil speculation, the adult Alamosaurus cervical vertebrae are very thick, one cervical vertebra is taller than half a person, it will grow thicker and thicker as it ages, and eventually become a dragon that can shake the earth. Because Alamosaurus was so large that they needed to eat constantly in order to survive for a day, they could eat about a ton of leaves in a day, so they spent most of the day looking for food, like other sauropods, Alamosaurus was not born so large, they were threatened a lot when they were young, and many predators would regard them as a delicious delicacy. Once Aramosaurus had grown up smoothly, its overall size was so large that it was probably difficult for any creatures other than Tyrannosaurus to threaten them.
But look at the picture, there is still a big body size gap between the tyrannosaurus and the Aramosaurus, and with the height of the Tyrannosaurus, it is not so easy to accurately bite the key to the neck of the Alamosaurus, not to mention the huge weight difference between the two. Tyrannosaurs weigh about 7 to 9 tons, and Alamosaurus can reach more than 100 tons, which is already more than ten times that of tyrannosaurs. Everyone knows that the heavyweight of a fight or boxing match is the most important factor that affects the outcome of the game. Alamosaurus had an absolute advantage over its body, even though it didn't have the deadly weapon power of the carnivorous dinosaurs, the tooth.
Generally speaking, tyrannosaurs would not provoke such giants for no reason, but when the two are confronted head-on. The biggest weapon of the Alamorosaurus is its weight, its counterattack method is to lift the forelimbs to stand, first use the front legs to step on the Tyrannosaurus with the weight, if the Tyrannosaurus accidentally did not flash and was stepped on, the weight and speed of more than 100 tons, will definitely make the Tyrannosaurus body fracture and serious injury, and then continue to trample on it will be seriously injured.
Last month, there was news that foreign tourists were traveling in Africa to witness a crocodile that dared to challenge an elephant, and was trampled to death by the elephant in two clicks. If the Tyrannosaurus did fight Alamo, it might be possible that this situation would happen.
Today's introduction of three kinds of dinosaurs that have the opportunity to defeat tyrannosaurs, it is surprising that they are all herbivorous dinosaurs, and may be able to sweep away the impression that herbivorous dinosaurs are very weak, but because the speculation of dinosaurs in the modern archaeological team can only be derived from fossils, many dinosaur fossils are not complete, so the margin of error may be very wide. These three dinosaurs that have the opportunity to defeat Tyrannosaurus are only speculation, but at present, there is no doubt that Tyrannosaurus is still a trap that once existed on land, and it is not so easy to defeat it.