Final Meal of Tyrannosaur: Devoured Two Infant Dinosaurs

Scientists have discovered the last meal of a juvenile tyrannosaur, shedding light on how these predators changed their diet as they grew. The fossil, which belongs to a seven-year-old gorgosaurus, revealed the hind limbs of two baby dinosaurs called citipes beneath its ribcage. This finding suggests that teenage tyrannosaurs hunted small, young dinosaurs. Previous fossil evidence has shown that adult tyrannosaurs were indiscriminate eaters and attacked and consumed large plant-eating dinosaurs. The teenage gorgosaurus, however, was not yet ready to take on such large prey. The fossil was discovered in the Alberta Badlands in 2009 and took years to prepare. The complete hind legs of two baby dinosaurs were eventually uncovered, suggesting that the teenage gorgosaurus had a preference for the meatiest parts of its prey. This finding provides physical proof of the feeding strategies of juvenile tyrannosaurs, which differed from those of the adults. The research highlights that tyrannosaurs were not just mindless monsters but rather sophisticated feeders. The study also challenges depictions of adult tyrannosaurs, like the T. rex in Jurassic Park, as fast and agile predators, suggesting that it would have been the young dinosaurs that posed a greater threat.