Dinosaur Wars: Tyrannosaurs Fought and Cannibalized One Another

When one tyrannosaur goes after another predator, it's not pretty. Now, scientists have taken a closer look at the conflict between two massive dinosaurs, and show that not only did fighting occur but that sometimes tyrannosaurs ate one another.

In this case, the researchers looked at injuries inflicted in life and death to a large tyrannosaurine dinosaur. Called Daspletosaurus, the large carnivore lived in what is now Canada and was only slightly smaller than its more famous cousin, Tyrannosaurus. Like other tyrannosaurs, it was an active predator and scavenger. This particular specimen, though, was not fully grown and would be considered a "sub-adult."

What makes the specimen truly interesting, though, is the fact that it has numerous injuries on its skull that occurred during its life. Although not all of these injuries can be attributed to bites, several are close in shape to the teeth of tyrannosaurs. In particular one bit to the back of the head had broken off part of the skull and left a circular tooth-shaped puncture through the bone. However, these injuries were not fatal.

"This animal clearly had a tough life suffering numerous injuries across the head including some that must have been quite nasty," said David Hone, the lead author of the new study, in a news release. "The most likely candidate to have done this is another member of the same species, suggesting some serious fights between these animals during their lives."

There is no evidence that the animal died after a fight. However, it does show that after the animal died, a large tyrannosaur bit into the animal and presumably ate at least part of it.

The findings reveal a bit more about the life of these animals and even shows some evidence for cannibalism among tyrannosaurs.

The findings are published in the journal PeerJ.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).