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Durbed — Shantungosaurus revenge
Published: 2011-05-12 14:33:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 3424; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 82
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Shantungosaurus has had enough! Why should he keep fleeing from a puny theropod like Alectrosaurus who barely is half its size and weight? contrary to the popular belief, duckbills can fight!Related content
Comments: 11
Finally, the theropods have their comeuppence
People seem to doubt a hadrosaur's self-defense capabilities because they "lack" them, at least when compared to some of the contemporary ceratopsians, titanosaurs, and ankylosaurs. Granted, herding behavior was probably the primary defense of most hadrosaur species, but if cornered, I have no doubts they could at least stand their ground against their predators. I mean, their tails were almost entirely reinforced by bony struts, and if the tail impressions of "Dakota" turn out to be what we think they are, then Edmontosaurus at the least had one seriously bulky tail; if that isn't at least a part-time defensive weapon, I don't know what is. And those fused hands, used primarily for walking, some say? They look more like biological boxing gloves than walking-sticks. Having such specilized chewing jaws means hadrosaurs might've had a decent amount of biteforce, and in a hadrosaur whose skull is as large as a Tyrannosaurus', they could probably crush any attacking dromaeosaur they caught. Besides, being the largest non-sauropod dinosaur we know of, Shantungosaurus probably had the same ecological privelages as sauropods: practically untouchable to predators. This Alectrosaurus has learned that fact the hard way. LOL
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Yes, you´re right. I think the hadrosaurs being portrayed as the lambs of the cretaceous is one of the greatest misconceptions of paleontology. I think it stems from the perception of ornitischians as "scaly hervibore mammals" which occupied the same niches of goats or gazeles. I mean, its not like running from a T.rex or any theropod of the same size or bigger wouldn´t be the best option, but the fact is that reptiles tend to react aggresively when feel threatened even against bigger opponents, and mainly using the tail as a defensive weapon. And so do birds, by the way. Fleeing without putting up a fight at all is mostly a mammal think, and its not even a rule, a lot of desperate hervibores sometimes manage to get rid of better armed lions or hyaenas.
Also, we have direct evidence of T.Rex attacking an Edmonto and failing at it with the healed bite marks in the laters tail, so the Rex got either outruned or tail-slapped.
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Out of the many, many such public misconceptions to choose from, it's unfortunately one of the least problematic. Gotta jump the "many raptors actually had feathers" hurdle first.
I believe the reaction a hadrosaur would have to an attacking predator would likely depend on the predator in question. Dromaeosaurs and such were probably not problematic unless the hadro' was ill, crippled, or a juvenile, or if there were enough raptors around to actually pose a threat. Tyrannosaurs and large crocodilians were probably regarded with great fear (as they well should be), though the smaller tyrannosaurs like Alioramus might've been easily deterred by one of the herd's bulls. Depending on the size and the number of tyrannosaurs, most hadrosaurs, would have preferred to run away or gather together. However, I'm positive few if any ever took the initiative and went after larger predators without provocation...Shantungosaurus again might have been a special case: not even an adult Tarbosaurus or Zhuchengotyrannus would pose much of a threat one-on-one, and the hadrosaur could've very well done whatever it pleased to whoever it pleased. If hadrosaur bulls were aggressive loners like modern-day elephant bulls, even the mighty tyrannosaurs would have to watch their backs every now and then.
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Yeah dromaeosaurs would most likely be crushed, maybe with the exception of those in the range of Achillobator and such. The others must probably get the hell away from adults, and same could be said for the famous Deinonychus/Tenontosaurus scenario...!
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Indeed, though Achillobator might've been more of a loner anyways, considering the arid, presumably low-resource environment in which it lived.
Well, that's one thing Jurassic Fight Club got right
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It is nice to see a hadrosaur fighting back for a change. I would love to see one biting/kicking a larger theropod like T.rex. I mean, Durbed right, it's not like the hadros gonna lie back and take it like a b***h!
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Indeed. I bet even T. rex had some difficulties when dealing when Edmontosaurs (which were larger than him too).
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Indeed. In my book, hervibores only lose when they are attacked by predators of the same size or bigger, and they´re not ill or too old. Its common sense! And even then, a duckbill can flee an adult tyrannosaur, the reputed ultimate killer, with relative ease. Check out the healed bite marks at that edmontosaurus tail.
The small dromaeosaurid vs adult hadrosaurs scenario is preposterous too! in most depictions, the later usually doesn´t even try to fight back but just screams in pain while the small critters bite and scratch him. What, when hadrosaurs got assaulted by creatures 20 times smaller than them they fall into a coma?
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It's certainly far more likely that theropods attacked juveniles and weakened individuals most of the time, just like modern predators. And no way small dromies were taking on adult hadrosaurs.
You just reminded me that I did a spoof of that scenario here: [link]
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This! (It's even more ridiculous when adult hadrosaurs are shown being killed by small deinonychosaurs. When will a duckbill get some respect?)
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