Megatherium vs Tyrannosaurus Rex

[mobster]

On second thought, the Giant Ground Sloth was much taller than T-rex (6m to 4m) and had more weapons. T-rex isn't fast enough to bypass the claws. He can't immobilize one of the sloth's arms and at the same time defend himself from the arm which will slash and tear him mercilessly.

Once T-rex has committed to an attack, he has to chase and catch the counterattack this case being the ground sloth's arm which already has a huge head start. T-rex would have to change his charge mid air and go for the other arm. That's impossible.

Even the species description above stated, ParisRichard Fariña and Ernesto Blanco of the Universidad de la República in Montevideo have analysed a fossil skeleton of M. americanum and discovered that its olecranon - the part of the elbow to which the triceps muscle attaches - was very short. This adaptation is found in carnivores and optimises speed rather than strength. The researchers say this would have enabled M. americanum to use its claws like daggers.

Comparing a ceratopsian or ankylosaur to a ground sloth doesn't work. They are completely different animals. The former are much shorter than T-rex so t-rex can absorb his charge by bending downwards and use his taller height deliver a downward bite aided by gravity. But the Megatherium is a lot taller than T-rex.

[Anomonyous]

Much taller? Considering Tyrannosaurus is 15-16 feet tall, nah.
And is that reared up? You realize Tyrannosaurus could do the same, right?
Considering the Tyrannosaurus Stan took a tooth to the f*cking brain, I doubt Megatherium's relatively blunt claws will do much.

Doesn't look like they could reach out far either.
Presuming Tyrannosaurus would even go for the arms (and not the head or neck, which would kill nearly instantly), once it gets a bit in that arm is practically useless. We're talking 6 inch teeth and 6+ tons of bite force here.

[mobster]

Sue, the largest complete t-rex skeleton was 12-13 feet tall. fieldmuseum.org/happening/exhibits/sue-t-rex

One cut won't kill rex, but 10 to 20 cuts all landing on the t-rex will severely handicap its ability to fight. Even if the giant ground sloth had blunt claws, a blow from an animal that size would be immensely powerful. This was an elephant sized sloth we're talking about.

As soon as t-rex bites one arm, the other arm will already have cut up his face.

All that said, I don't doubt t-rex can win but it'd be difficult. I'd rather not underestimate the herbivore here.

[Anomonyous]

Yes, Sue is 13 ft tall at the hip - but that's not the highest point on a Tyrannosaurus. Megatherium, on the other hand, IS getting measured at the highest pint, the top of its head, and reared up too.

but 10 to 20 cuts all landing on the t-rex will severely handicap its ability to fight.

I strongly doubt such a sluggish animal could land very many hits on a comparatively much faster moving predator.

a blow from an animal that size would be immensely powerful

The arms are short and don't have much room to gain momentum.

the other arm will already have cut up his face.

I doubt that would do much, and now Megatherium only has one useful arm.
In fact, couldn't the Tyrannosaurus just bite the side of the arm that wasn't protected by the other?

[mobster]

Large theropods are slow and stiff in close quarters. It will not flank megatherium or vice versa.

T-rex is too morphologically limited. Once it commits itself to an attack and goes for the limb, the other arm with a huge head start is already moving to slash him. T-rex would have to disengage attack midair and catch the counterattack. That's impossible.

By the time, T-rex has broken one of the Megatherium's arms, his face will be badly cut up.

As stated before, T-rex can win. It'll just be difficult.

[rhino]

Mar 28, 2012 20:08:10 GMT -5 Canid Cetus Aves said:

Thanks.
And ya, I think so too. T-Rex had an incredible bite and quite frankly, I think the Sloth would be too slow to do significant damage.

its olecranon - the part of the elbow to which the triceps muscle attaches - was very short. This adaptation is found in carnivores and optimises speed rather than strength. The researchers say this would have enabled M. americanum to use its claws like daggers.

Megatherium's paw swipe will hit t-rex before the t-rex is able to get a bite.

It's also much, much taller than a t-rex unlike the normal stuff t-rex encounters.

Not a mismatch by any stretch of imagination if you ask me.

[rhino]

Mar 28, 2012 17:43:03 GMT -5 Tyrannosaurus said:

You defined mismatch as when the weights don't match? LOL!!!! No, a mismatch is when one animal is obviously much more formidable than the other, such as that one animal has little hope of winning. For example, Tyrannosaurus vs Orca on land. They weigh the same. Still a mismatch. All you do is look at the weights. What about human vs jellyfish? That's a mismatch in favor of the jellyfish, which is way smaller. Many animals are designed to kill animals bigger than themselves.

You were saying it could shatter the Rex's skull, which is not true.

It wouldn't shatter the t-rex's head, but too many swings would floor the t.rex.

A man can knock down another man with a strong punch. Why can't a megatherium do the same thing here to a horizontal, top heavy, unagile t.rex?

Also, megatherium is totally different from the usual prey t.rex encounters. It's much taller and more stable than t.rex, and has greater reach.

If anything, I see the sloth giving rex hell.

[rhino]

Mar 28, 2012 17:27:14 GMT -5 DinosaurMichael said:

Mar 28, 2012 17:15:25 GMT -5 Tyrannosaurus said:

Complete mismatch.

Bullshit. T. rex's bite is more powerful than that, if that were true it'd break it's jaw just trying to eat.

This isn't a mismatch since both are close to the same weight. A mismatch is when an animal weighs more than the other. For example. 50-75 lbs vs 200 lbs.

Also Megatherium was a powerful animal. I was just saying the Sloth has strong arms that can injure T-Rex possibly even it's skull. That's all.

I fully agree. People just like t-rex too much that's why. The sloth can apply its strength more effectively than a rex ever could.

[Deleted]

I am actually thinking the sloth would win. They have those massive arms and can use them effectively to keep rex at a distance and potentially knock it down. But of course if the dinosaur gets in a bite, its pretty much done for the sloth. Megatherium 6/10.

[Carcharadontosaurus]

T.rex, one bite and the sloth is done

[rhino]

also megatherium is much taller than t-rex unlike the usual stuff t-rex encounters.

[Cr1TiKaL]

Mismatch in favor of the Tyrannosaurus rex.




The sloth won't be able to hit the T.rex with it's claws unless the T.rex went to get a bite on the sloth's front neck. Tyrannosaurus' bite is incredibly strong, enough to puncture the sloth's armor, and if T.rex can handle Triceratops then it can handle Megatherium. The Megatherium also hasn't seen anything as large as Tyrannosaurus rex, it's largest predators were Smilodon. Unless the Megatherium managed to do something like slash the T.rex's neck, the Tyrannosaurus wins 90% of the time.

[rhino]

The giant ground sloth's height advantage, stability, and grappling ability would overwhelm t.rex, a cowardly opportunist that mainly killed babies and not adults according to national geographic.

[Cr1TiKaL]

Cowardly? *facepalm* T.rex is too much for this sloth. If Megatherium would have won, it would have to get a lucky shot on T.rex. And while it might take 2 seconds for T.rex to take a 45 degrees turn, I think it would be much faster than the sloth. The sloth doesn't really move fast either. It only has to take a bite to the sloth's neck for T.rex to win.

[Anomonyous]

Aug 5, 2013 9:24:28 GMT -5 rhino said:

The giant ground sloth's height advantage, stability, and grappling ability would overwhelm t.rex, a cowardly opportunist that mainly killed babies and not adults according to national geographic.

Outdated. It was proven a VERY long time ago that Tyrannosaurus preyed upon Edmontosaurus and Triceratops (I believe both specimens were full-grown), and likely just about anything else in its ecosystem.

As for as killing babies, any predator will go for weaker prey. They don't care about their image or reputation, so this is far from exclusive.

Large theropods are slow and stiff in close quarters.

They don't turn very fast, but a sidestep or charge will do just fine.

Also should the Tyrannosaurus initiate a charge I see little the sloth can do to stop it. Even if the bite misses the resulting collision could very well tip Megatherium over.

Also, if a relatively horizontally aligned theropod standing on long legs with multiple adaptions for cursoriality and a long tail for counterbalance is not very agile, what do you think a sloth standing up on a short tail and stubby legs is going to be like? Speed is not Megatherium's ally here.

T-rex would have to disengage attack midair and catch the counterattack. That's impossible.

Untrue. It can move its head, so if the Tyrannosaurus can react fast itself it could bite the other arm. It is not very likely, but certainly not impossible.

By the time, T-rex has broken one of the Megatherium's arms, his face will be badly cut up.

I doubt an adrenaline-fueled T. rex would really care that its face had a few slashes, considering the claws are blunt and according to the muscle study the blows would not have been exceptionally powerful.

The time required to disable an arm is also relatively short, especially when given the incredibly high bite force, and even if the bone does not break the teeth alone will do serious damage to the muscles and produce quite a bit of blood-letting.

As stated previously, the theropod could also simply bite the undefended side of the arm.

A man can knock down another man with a strong punch. Why can't a megatherium do the same thing here to a horizontal, top heavy, unagile t.rex?

Neither agility nor being horizontal is going to decrease Tyrannosaurus' stability. In fact, the latter is one of the reasons why that would be a very difficult task. Because of the body alignment, a blow to the head is not going to transfer very well to the rest of the body, unlike a person. It is much easier to tip over a tower that is taller than it is wide than vice-versa.

Also, the force-to-weight ratio in this case is probably going to be lower, further reducing Megatherium's ability to floor a T. rex.

It's also much, much taller than a t-rex unlike the normal stuff t-rex encounters.

Only when reared up, which renders it nearly immobile. For that matter Tyrannosaurus could also rear up and it would be taller then.

stability

Stability? Since when did Megatherium ever have that on its side? If anything it seems like its lack of a heavy counterbalance and high height would make it exceptionally vulnerable. Those feet don't look like they provide much surface area relative to size either.