How could a huge animal like a t-rex be a predator without the advantage of stealth and speed?

Question

Wouldn't their prey hear them coming and run away?

Answer 1

The approximate speed of a T-Rex has been estimated at around 40 miles per hour when running at top speed. For a dinosaur, that's very fast. It could easily run down large herbivores, which would have moved a lot slower. And with the size of the T-rex's mouth, it would be easy for it to kill its prey.

There have also been some suggestions that T-Rex may have been a scavenger, but I don't see how scavenging alone could supply it with enough meat (dinosaurs that are known to have been scavengers, such as Eustreptospondylus, are smaller; indicating that they were eating less).

Answer 2

T-rex probably could out-run several prey animals. Stealth is a different variable, however. A less glamorous theory suggests that the t-rex was not a great hunter at all, but rather a scavenger. Dead things don't run away!

Answer 3

yeah but the t-rex is a long distance runner as it always works out in the local gym. so even when the prey runs off the t-rex slowly but surely jogs after the prey until they fall down dead from exhaustion. the t-rex then picks up the food and dumps it in the freezer for later use when it is off/feeling off, and can chill out in front of the tv and watch the flintstones...

Answer 4

You ask a question about a book that you haven't read, how big was the door in the ark? do you know? could T-Rex get through it? well the book says the dour was 3 stories high, Did that answer how Noah got him on the ark, The book also speaks of the animals being vegetarians, I thing that answers the question of eating meat.

Answer 5

Just like everything else, speed is relative. The predator just has to be faster than the slowest prey animal.

This reminds me of a joke I heard once:
Two guys were out fishing, and heard a bear coming.
One guy starts putting on his running shoes.
The second guy says "what are you doing, you know you can't outrun that bear."
The first guy says "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."

Answer 6

because in that day and time when dinosaurs
still existed, stealth and speed weren't necessarily required.

your prey just grazed out in the fields for you, and you weren't
necessarily huge compared to some of the other dinosaurs.

you were just the only one with huge teeth and claws.

They were actually quite fast though.

Answer 7

Keep in mind, most of the prey then wasn't exactly speedy either. Regardless, T-Rex was mainly a scavenger anyway.

Answer 8

Predators like the T-rex were meat eaters, and there were lots of big leaf and grassing dino's then, that could easily be lunch for the T-rex's ok
Keep smiling !!!

Answer 9

They weren't fussy what they ate - they would scavenge. Many of the plant eating dinosaurs were large and slow. Their long stride did allow them to move quickly in the open. Some prey may have frozen in their tracks.
What they caught, they killed. They had no competition.

Answer 10

scientists have made a comuter model of a t-rex and in order for it to run at 70 mph,80% of its muscle would have to be in its legs-physically impossible!so scientists think this dinosaur lumbered around at around 10 mph,catching very slow prey and eating carrion.