According to evidence recently unearthed, Tyrannosaurs may actually have hunted in packs. The evidence – which was uncovered in Canada – enforces the theory that has gained some controversy since it was first publicised. The findings include a number of parallel Tyrannosaur tracks which were all made during the same time, and were outlined in a recent paper.
Richard McCrea, who co-authored the study outlining the findings, has said that the Tyrannosaurs may have “stuck together as a pack to increase their chances of bringing down prey and individually surviving.”
Palaeontologists have long debated whether or not the Tyrannosaur species’ – for example the Tyrannosaurus Rex and its cousins – may have traveled in packs.
The theory is also backed by the finding of groups of bones that were found lumped together in Canada’s Dry Island Buffalo JumpProvincial Park, although this isn’t definitive proof of whether or not they travelled in packs.
A team led by McCrea – who is also a curator at the Peace Region Palaeontology Center in Canada – discovered a patch 197 feet long by 13 feet wide filled with footprints from multiple dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurs. The find also included the footprints of other small theropods.
According to McCrea, the prints were made by the dinosaurs after a river overflowed, and were then preserved by a thick layer of volcanic ash. McCrea also said that the footprints were made about 70 million years ago.
Though there were footprints of several different species, and some of them led in different directions, McCrea noted that the footprints of the Tyrannosaurs were all close to each other and led in the same direction. Due to the shallowness of the footprints, and the fact that all the footprints were all the same depth, McCrea is certain that all the prints were left at the same time.