Tyrannosaurus Rex, apex predator of the Cretaceous.
With up to six inch long teeth and weighing between 7 and 10 tons, T-rex was the most
fearsome of the tyrannosaurids.
The modern lion meanwhile boasts 3 inch long teeth and claws, weighing in between 200 and
400 lbs.
What might happen if these two apex predators from different epochs were to meet for an
ultimate showdown?
That’s what we’ll find out today, in this episode of The Infographics Show- how many
lions would it take to kill a T-Rex?
One on one there's simply no challenge- but lions regularly take down prey much larger
than themselves utilizing pack tactics.
So could a pack of lions potentially take down a single T-Rex?
First let's take a look at each individual animal.
As a pack hunter lions regularly stalk prey much larger than themselves, though typically
stay away from fully grown adult rhinoceros, elephants and giraffes.
However, given an opportunity- such as if an animal is sickly or wounded- lions can
and will take on even these dangerous prey.
With their three inch long teeth, a lion's preferred method of killing is to go for the
throat and crush the windpipe, suffocating their prey.
Against much larger prey than themselves, lions harass the animal, slowly wearing it
down and rotating pack members in and out as individuals become tired.
Eventually the individual prey animal is simply too exhausted to continue resisting.
The lion's incessant attacks may also have wounded the animal, further adding to its
weakening state.
It's difficult to gauge behavior from a long-extinct animal when all you have are bones, but T-rex's
bones can actually tell us a lot about how the animal was physically built, and thus
what its hunting behaviors may have been like.
With a lot of room for the attachment of muscle fibers, T-rex skeletons show that the animal
was extremely well muscled, and the size of its jaws and accompanying attachment points
for jaw muscles have led scientists to confidently conclude that T-rex had the most powerful
bite of any known animal to have ever existed.
Evidence of T-rex bite marks on other dinosaur bones show that it was capable of tearing
through a carcass and cracking open even the thickest of bones to get at the vital minerals
inside.
This has led to some debate amongst paleontologists, with a minority group believing that T-rex
was a pure scavenger who rarely if ever actively hunted prey.
Most paleontologists however don't believe this theory holds much water, and point to
its forward-facing eye sockets which gave it a greater binocular vision than even modern
day hawks.
There is also a great deal of evidence of T-rex bites on other dinosaur bones, with
new growth over the old wound, indicating active hunting behavior (which the particular
animals happened to survive).
Generally the scientific community agrees that T-rex was an active predator, using its
short but extremely powerful forelimbs to seize onto prey while its massive head delivered
bone-crushing bites.
Further evidence of T-rex bites on an adult Triceratops around the horns and the edges
of its crest may indicate that much like a modern day lion, T-rex preferred to go for
the throat.
Given its biting strength of up to 431,000 pounds per square inch, a single bite from
a T-rex was likely enough to end most of its prey's life.
And if that's not enough, some paleontologists point at T-rex's brain case, showing that
it had a brain up to six times larger than any other dinosaur, which likely meant it
was a very intelligent and social animal, allowing it to hunt in packs.
So just how big would a pack of lions have to be to take out a single genius and very
carnivorous dinosaur?
The average lion pride consists of about 13 members, but some prides can be made up of
up to 40 members.
Even with these numbers though lions rarely ever attack prey larger than a water buffalo,
and if they do it's either out of sheer desperation or because they are targeting an already weakened
and vulnerable animal.
Attacks against full grown and healthy bull elephants are rare, but in 1996 researchers
recorded almost nightly attempts by lions over the course of a few months to kill adult
bull elephants and only succeeding once.
The reason why should be obvious- elephants are big- really big- with bulls approaching
7 tons in size.
This puts an adult bull elephant close to the average weight for a T-rex.
Against such a large animal, a lion's teeth typically can't penetrate enough flesh to
cause serious wounds, let alone their preferred method of killing: suffocation.
The pack must instead rely on continuous harassment, wearing down a big bull to the point of absolute
exhaustion.
The elephant meanwhile can rely on its huge tusks to drive lions away, possibly even killing
them as has been observed in some circumstances.
Giraffes- another rare but potential prey for lions- have also been seen stomping attacking
animals to death, and pose a similar challenge for lions to down.
Yet formidable as they are, giraffes and elephants are still by instinct, herbivores.
A T-rex is not.
A born predator, T-rex wouldn't hesitate to engage a pack of lions, and given the evidence
of T-rex on T-rex attacks its clear that it's not afraid of a fight.
Attacking lions would have to wear a defending T-rex down through harassment, much as they
do elephants and giraffes.
Unlike elephants and giraffes though, the T-rex would likely not just try to defend
itself, but actively attack the lions themselves.
With its massive jaws, a single bite from a T-rex would be a guaranteed kill, while
its powerful tail could easily break the bones of any unwary lion trying to pounce from behind.
Lions trying to attack a T-rex would face another obstacle: its tough, scaly skin.
While the exact composition of T-rex skin has been debated, most recent evidence shows
that T-rex was likely covered in scales, with some possible feathering along the dorsum.
These scales would be difficult for a lion's teeth to penetrate, and even if they did,
with so much bulk a lion's tiny (by comparison) three-inch teeth would do little more than
surface damage.
In a fight to the death and with retreat not an option for both sides, a single T-rex would
likely kill dozens of attacking lions, but numbers would inevitably win the day.
Utilizing their pack hunting strategies, lions could harass and eventually wear down the
single T-rex to the point of absolute exhaustion.
Then and only then could lions have a chance of potentially getting to the softer underbelly
of a T-rex, or potentially smothering it to death as they have been known to do with cape
buffalo by biting and latching on to the buffalo's nostrils.
So how many lions would it ultimately take to kill a single T-rex?
It's impossible to guess.
There's simply no modern analogue to compare to- a pack of lions may very rarely take down
a bull elephant or rhinoceros, but neither animal is an active predator with six-inch
long teeth.
So, how many do you think it would take?
And what other historical matchup would you like to see?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video Gorilla vs Bear - Who Would Win.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!