Lawyer consumption rates of Tyrannosaurus rex

[Vladimír Socha]

Good day! 

I wonder, what would the result be in case of much heavier and more massive individuals of Tyrannosaurus rex?  For example, "Sue" and "Scotty" (8-9 tonnes) or even enigmatic "Goliath" (11 000-12000 kg)? In 1997 scientists calculated that an adult T. rex (with an estimated weight of just 4.54 tonnes) would need to consume about 292 average-sized lawyers (or any other adult humans) per year to meet its energetic requirements. For a 4540-kilogram T. rex, the equation used predicts a feeding rate >of 991.3 watts, which works out to 73 lawyers per year. 292 lawyers per year is 43,800 pounds of food per year. Assuming that the average cow weighs 1200 pounds, that gives us also 36.5 cows per year. But again, what would the values be in case of giant T. rex individuals? For "Scotty", that would be about 467 lawyers per year...

track me

References:

Brett-Surman, Michael K. and Farlow, J. O. (1997). „Some irreverent thoughts about dinosaur metabolic physiology: Jurisphagous food consumption rates of Tyrannosaurus rex.“ in The Complete Dinosaur, edited by Farlow, J. O. and Brett-Surman, Michael K., 350–351. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Hutchinson, J. R.; Bates, K. T.; Molnar, J.; Allen, V.; Makovicky, P. J. (2011). A Computational Analysis of Limb and Body Dimensions in Tyrannosaurus rex with Implications for Locomotion, Ontogeny, and Growth. PLoS ONE. 6 (10): e26037. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026037

Anderson, J. F.; Hall-Martin, A. J.; Russell, D. (1985). Long bone circumference and weight in mammals, birds and dinosaurs. Journal of Zoology. 207 (1): 53–61. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1985.tb04915.x

Persons, S. W.; Currie, P. J.; Erickson, G. M. (2019-03-21). An Older and Exceptionally Large Adult Specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex. The Anatomical Record. doi: 10.1002/ar.24118

Barrick, R. E.; Showers, W. J. (1994). Thermophysiology of Tyrannosaurus rex: Evidence from Oxygen Isotopes. Science. 265 (5169): 222–224. doi: 10.1126/science.265.5169.222

[Russell Engelman]

Relevant

https://what-if.xkcd.com/78/