Riley Black Explores the Softer Side of Paleontology's Most Feared Predator

Hunger rules the day. And the night. And the afternoons. The eager grunting from the trio of baby Tyrannosaurus can sometimes seem ceaseless, the only quiet coming from the fleeting moments when they have their sharp little jaws clamped around tatters of meat dropped into their increasingly smelly nest, or when they are too tired from begging and sleep. Anytime the three are awake and don’t have something to stuff their mouths, they cry.

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The babies are still so small that mother T. rex could drag an entire bloated Torosaurus carcass over to them and they could peck at the ragged edges of flesh for days and days. The infants would be able to feed to their stomachs’ content on the increasingly ripe meat without getting close to finishing the entire spread laid before them. But such a simple route to full bellies would not do much to help this busy, fluffy family. Mother T.…