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Valley of the T. rex


Valley of the T. rex is a 2001 Discovery Channel documentary, featuring paleontologist Jack Horner. The program shows Horner with his digging team as they travel to Hell Creek Formation in search for dinosaur fossils. The program also follow Horner as he present his view of the theropod dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex as a scavenger rather than a predator, as it is often portrayed in popular culture.

The program shows Horner and his digging team as they travel to the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, United States, and dig up dinosaurs.

The program also follows Horner as he presents arguments for his case of Tyrannosaurus as a scavenger. Horner argues that there is not the slightest evidence that Tyrannosaurus hunted its own prey. Instead, Horner believe the evidence should be clear that Tyrannosaurus was a scavenger, lamenting that "no one likes that idea". Some of Horner's arguments for a scavenger-only Tyrannosaurus are:

Tyrannosaurus becomes depicted as Horner imagines it: a big, slow-moving animal, traveling across the landscape in search of a carcass. Horner thinks Tyrannosaurus would have a repulsive look: A dark body, a red head, and itwould give off a terrible smell. This would help it frighten away other meateaters, like dromaeosaurs, from carcasses. His description of T. rex is "Big, nasty, and stinky."

Since Valley of the T. rex was shown on television, it has been met by criticism. Many of the arguments Horner use to support his case have been examined by other paleontologists, who do not agree that they conclusively show Tyrannosaurus was an obligate scavenger. As for Tyrannosaurus short forelimbs, it has been pointed out that predators like wolves and hyenas do not use their frontlegs to take down prey. Moreover, hyenas, like Tyrannosaurus, have jaws and teeth to crush bone, yet they use it to hunt their own prey.


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