Expert: David Prus - 6/13/2009

Question
Hi 10N of bite force how many libres psi are? do you think todays land predators are more efficient killers than past predators?do they have better senses,are they faster and stronger? hypotheticaly if we put an utahraptor in an african savvana would he have any chances of survival? what would he try to eat? what would happened if he encountered another predator(lion). the same hypothesis for albertosaurus. did tarbosaurus co-existed with deinocheirus?
tarbosaurus co-existed with some titanosaurid sauropods.In wikipedia i read that his skull had some adaptations for hunting these sauropods. can you tell me what method would he use to deal with this prey? would he bite and hold on to the sauropod(tyrannosaurids had skulls made for this)or he would use the same technique as allosaurids? what was the bite force of tarbosaurus(psi)? Thanks

Answer
10 Newtons per cm - 14 psi.

Today's land predators are efficient considering their prey. Their senses are slightly better and they move faster, but they are not as strong as prehistoric predators. This is simply because prey today emphasize speed and camouflage rather than strength.

A lone Utahraptor would probably do decently, but there's not really enough cover in a savanna for a such a large animal. It would probably resort to hunting large, slow animals like rhinos and use its size to scare off other predators like lions and hyenas from their kills. A single lion is no match for a Utahraptor, while a whole pack is too much. It depends on the size of the pride.

Albertosaurus would have it even more extreme. It would be the ultimate predator, chasing elephants and scaring off entire prides of lions. However, it would simply be unable to run down enough zebra, antelope, and buffalo to make them worth hunting. It would be like the Utahraptor, only taken to more extremes.

Tarbosaurus and Deinocheirus both lived in the Nemegt formation, and Tarbosaurus probably hunted the other theropod if it could catch it.

Tarbosaurus had a skull much like Tyrannosaurus but with stiffer jaw bones that allowed it to hit the prey with more force. It would probably adapt the T.rex strategy to larger prey, taking multiple bone-crushing bites to bring down the sauropod

I've done a quick search, giving Tarbosaurus a bite force of 6100N: less than Tyrannosaurus but enough to pierce ankylosaur armor and bring down sauropods. It probably specialized on sauropods and giant hadrosaurs like Shantungosaurus and Saurolophus