Researchers at the University of Alberta have found fossil evidence suggesting that a small raptor may have fed on the body of a fallen tyrannosaur, Sci.News reports. The finding rests on bite marks preserved in the fossil, which the researchers interpret as signs of scavenging or feeding by a smaller dinosaur.
According to Sci.News, the marks indicate that small raptors likely feasted on the tyrannosaur after it died. Coverage of the same research describes the animal involved as dog-sized, and one report frames the discovery as evidence that a raptor may have fed on an apex predator.
The story has drawn attention from several Canadian outlets, including Global News, CBC and CP24, which reported on the University of Alberta student whose work produced the discovery. Popular Science, meanwhile, described the case in different terms, raising the possibility that a young tyrannosaur cannibalized a dead relative.
Those two readings — a smaller raptor scavenging a tyrannosaur, or a juvenile tyrannosaur feeding on its own kind — reflect how much interpretation bite marks alone can support. The available reports do not settle which scenario the researchers favor, and no full study text was included in the material reviewed here.
What to watch next: whether the University of Alberta team publishes the full analysis, which should clarify the identity of the animal that left the marks and how the researchers interpret its behavior.