Paleontology & Theropods PART2! Soooo good it needed a sequel - With Dr François Therrien

Gorgosaurus stomach contents and the diets of juvenile tyrannosaurs! Here is the conclusion of my discussion with Dr. François Therrien (Royal Tyrrell Museum). While adult T-Rexes were famous for hunting giant herbivores, recent fossil evidence reveals that young tyrannosaurs had a taste for something much smaller.

On the show, the discovery of an adolescent Gorgosaurus libratus that preserved its final meal: the hind limbs of two small, bird-like dinosaurs. This confirms a ontogenetic dietary shift, proving that tyrannosaurs occupied multiple ecological niches throughout their lives—acting as different species as they grew

Topics

The "Last Meal" Discovery: How technicians uncovered tiny knuckle bones inside a Gorgosaurus rib cage, revealing a preference for "chicken" thighs

Ontogenetic Dietary Shifts: Young tyrannosaurs hunted agile, small prey like Citipes before transitioning to mega-herbivores after age 11.

Tyrannosaur-Dominated Ecosystems: Late Cretaceous North America lacked medium-sized predators

The Spinosaurus Controversy: Why the "aquatic predator" theory is heavily debated among paleontologists and the reality of its bite force.

Chapters

(00:00) Episode Intro

(01:30) The Specimen: Most Complete Young Gorgosaurus

(02:50) Preparation Reveal: Finding Bones Inside the Belly

(04:00) Citipes Connection: Juvenile Predators Eating Yearlings

(05:30) Surgical Feeding: Why They Only Ate the Legs

(06:50) Evolutionary Strategy: Avoiding Herd and Horns

(08:15) Seasonality: Was This a Cretaceous "Salmon Run"?

(10:45) Mystery of Death: Flood vs. Indigestion

(11:30) Ecological Niches: Tyrannosaurs

(13:00) North America vs. Asia: Predator Structures

(15:00) Modern Analogs: Why the Serengeti is Different

(17:45) Future: Muon Tomography and Particle Accelerators

(19:00) Synchrotrons: Mapping Pigments and Dinosaur Colors

(20:30) AI in Science: Eliminating the Tedium of Data Entry

(22:30) The "TV vs. Reality" Gap in Scientific Research

(25:00) Tour of the Royal Tyrrell Museum

(27:15) 40th Anniversary Special: Upcoming Exhibits

(30:15) Spinosaurus Mess: Imagination vs. Fossil Record

(35:30) Jurassic Park 3 Debunked: Bite Force Realities

(38:40) The Physics Joke: Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Ohm

Links

https://tyrrellmuseum.com/

Email: whimsical.wavelengths@gmail.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths: Deep-dive conversations where a working scientist unpacks how we know what we know, one paper, one idea, or whimsical detour at a time. Hosted by Dr. Jeffrey Zurek (P.Geo)