[suspenseful music] NARRATOR: The following
is a graphic depiction of a violent prehistoric battle. Viewer discretion is advised. It was a three-way standoff
between a giant plant eater, a pack of raptors, and a T. rex. Now forensic evidence,
including incredibly rare mummified remains, let
investigators uncover a mind-blowing
prehistoric battle. [roaring] They're the Earth's
first fighters. The ultimate predators. New discoveries in
forensic science bring to life the
prehistoric art of war. This is "Jurassic Fight Club." [dramatic music] 1997. A ranch in Northeastern
South Dakota. A fossil hunter is on a
routine dig when he suddenly spots the remains of a
large dinosaur jutting out of the side of a hill. To identify the bones,
paleontologists now rely on experience
and acute knowledge of what other
species of dinosaur have been found
in the same area. Usually when you're
finding dinosaurs, you got a pretty good idea as
to what you're going to find. If you're in the
Late Cretaceous, you have a good chance
of finding, like, a duck-billed dinosaur,
or a triceratops, or a tyrannosaurus. And so you've got some idea who
the cast of characters are you might find. But very often, it's not until
you've actually excavated a series of bones
that you can really start to get a handle on what
kind of dinosaur you have. If I find even a fragment of a
tooth with the serrations on it of a carnivorous dinosaur. I can often tell you exactly
what kind of carnivorous dinosaur that it belongs to. I don't need a whole tooth
to tell you what it is. I can tell from the size. I can tell from the shape
of the serrations and so on. NARRATOR: Paleontologists
uncovered more of the skeleton and then compared them to the
bones of other dinosaurs found nearby. They realized they were
looking at a monster. [growling] It was a duck-billed dinosaur-- edmontosaurus. These dinosaurs were
over 40 feet long, stood 13 feet at the hips,
and weighed nearly 4 tons-- about the size of
a railroad boxcar. These are really big
dinosaurs with massive tails, but their body
design is perfectly balanced so that their
center of gravity is directly over their hips. This allows them to grow large
but still remain fairly agile. Their size is
impressive, but what makes these duck-billed
dinosaurs look so cool is that real funky skull. [roaring] NARRATOR: The feature
that earned them the name duck bill was an
elongated nose and flat beak. But one of the most striking
features of the dinosaur was that its mouth housed
well over 1,000 teeth. And like a modern shark,
it lost and grew new teeth throughout its life. They had a battery of
1,300 teeth in their jaws at one time that would just
keep growing and growing and growing. They would grind their food. They ate-- we found, actually,
stomach contents in some of these animals showing
that they ate sequoias and other plants that
were found in the region. NARRATOR: The ability to
chew through plants allowed edmontosaurus to swarm across
much of prehistoric Earth. We find them preserved
in the uplands, so in the more woody parts
and the hills, the foothills of the early Rockies. We find them in
the stream valleys. We find them in
swampy environments. We even find duck bills
that lived all the way down to the coasts. Some of them lived
on the shores. So a duck bill
like edmontosaurus, we find, actually, in
several different types of environments. It functioned pretty well
in forests, in the streams, in the swamps. As long as it could
find some plants to eat, a duck bill was happy. [growling] It's their ability to eat
the tough plants of the Late Cretaceous that allows
edmontosaurus to outcompete and ultimately replace earlier
dinosaurs like tenontosaurus. And it also allowed them
to grow 40 feet in length and stand tall enough to
look through the upstairs window of a 2-story house. NARRATOR: Edmontosaurus was
one of the largest herbivores in North America. Its large size also
helped protect it from vicious predators. [roaring] Once these dinosaurs
reached adulthood, their size made them less
of a target from attack. The juveniles and some
adults, on the other hand, were in constant danger,
especially the sub-adult males. Once they reached
a certain age, I think they were driven from the
herd and sent off on their own to mature and form
herds of their own. A single bull would
need to be on the alert to every form of danger. NARRATOR: Lacking armor
and obvious weapons, at first glance, this dinosaur
looked like easy prey. But when investigators
inspected the skeletal design, they found that they
were far from helpless. A big adult edmontosaurus
is bigger than a rhino, as big as an Indian elephant. So that's a big hunk of meat. If you're that big,
you can defend yourself just by wapping
your tail around, by kicking out with your
legs, and even by smacking it with that big duck bill. [roaring] If you're an edmontosaurus
and you're under attack, the first thing you
want to do is run away. Although it's a
fairly large animal, it was still relatively fast. But if it couldn't
outrun its attacker, then it used its massive tail. It could swing that thing
like an oversized baseball bat and crush its opponent,
if it could hit him. NARRATOR: Today, there
is one clear link that gives scientists insight
into prehistoric behavior-- it's animal instinct, which does
not change through thousands of generations. Well, edmontosaurus was
sort of the wildebeest of the Cretaceous plains. It was actually larger
than a wildebeest, but in terms of
dinosaur communities, it would be in that
approximate size range. The reality is
that they probably had a couple of
different strategies to deal with
predators, one of which is by their sensory
components, where they actually have a good sense of hearing. They have a good
sense of vision. They can a sense the
predators and avoid them before the predators get
close enough to do any damage. Another strategy that virtually
all or many, many prey animals have today is to have many
sensory systems working at the same time. In other words,
they live in groups. They live in herds. Consequently, the idea
of predator detection becomes enhanced with
living in a group. NARRATOR: Fossil
evidence found in sites throughout North America
suggested that these dinosaurs traveled in herds. They lived in very,
very large herds. Perhaps as many as 10,000 to
20,000 individuals in a herd. Clearly, they had to migrate. There's no way you can
support large herds like that without them moving around,
because they're going to literally decimate
the foliage in an area as they're moving along. NARRATOR: But the remains at the
site only showed one duck bill. Why wasn't it in a herd? Since this duck bill
skeleton was found by itself, it's easy to believe that it was
either separated from the herd or was alone when
it was attacked. There's no evidence that any
other duck bills were with it. NARRATOR: When feeding, these
dinosaurs stood on all fours. But there was one stunning
feature in the way it moved. When they had to, duck bills
had a special adaptation-- they walked on two legs. We know by studying a
lot of fossil footprints that edmontosaurus and its
relatives walked on two legs most of the time. I'm sure that larger
members found it easier to walk on all fours,
but when they needed to, they could get up on
their hind legs and run-- maybe not incredibly
fast, but, hopefully, faster than their attacker. NARRATOR: In 1998, the
investigation deepened. CAT scan research was
performed by Larry Witmer. The scans revealed a vital clue. The edmontosaurus may not have
been as fast as previously thought. One idea that we can do to
get some sense of the agility of these animals is to actually
look inside their heads and look at the structure of
the brain, and particularly the inner ear, which we
can get from CT scanning. And what that tells us is that,
indeed, adult edmontosaurs were probably not
particularly agile animals. They were probably not
particularly fleet of foot. They were not
relatively quick moving. Certainly not as
sort of plodding, as what we think many of the
long neck sauropods were like. When paleontologists
CAT scan dinosaur skulls, they get a very clear idea
of the shape of the brain. By comparing that brain
to modern animal brains, they're able to figure out
which part of the brain is dedicated to which sense. So if the olfactory section
of the brain is enlarged, then it tells scientists that
the animal's sense of smell was more advanced than one with
a smaller part of the brain dedicated to that same sense. So the use of CAT
scanning is an example of how experts are able to
give us an idea of a dinosaur's vision, hearing, and
even speed and agility. NARRATOR: But as
more of the skeleton was unearthed from the
hillside, the mystery deepened. Most of the skeleton
was missing. The only body part that
remained was its tail. The tail was a
staggering 23 feet long. But what could have
happened to the other half of this dinosaur? Had it been attacked
and partially eaten? Then another discovery. The tail was covered
in fossilized skin. [roaring] It had been mummified. The discovery of fossilized
skin is not unheard of, but it's remarkably rare. I've had the opportunity to
study a large duck bill named TC whose neck and body parts
are covered in fossilized skin. We don't fully understand
the process that causes some dinosaur
skin to mummify, but the end result allows
us to study the skin texture of the dinosaur. We're unable to determine
the original skin color, but at least we get a look
at the thickness and texture. NARRATOR: The discovery of
a duck-billed dinosaur tail covered in skin
was unprecedented, but it would pale in comparison
to what they found next-- a second beast and forensic
proof of massive dinosaur carnage that took place
over 65 million years ago. It is a find unlike
any in modern science. The tail of a giant plant
eater had been discovered. And, incredibly, its
mummified skin survived. [roaring] Investigators studied
the skin and realized it held something else. Bite marks-- deep
gashes in the bone. They were from a predator. [roaring] Looking at the tooth marks
left in the skin of the tail of this dinosaur, my first
reaction was, holy cow, it's been bitten! But then as you
look more closely, you see that these tooth marks
are relatively small and very few in numbers. Whatever had left the
tooth marks was not very big and certainly
not overly powerful. NARRATOR: And then another clue. Sifting through the soil
found in and around the bones, they found numerous small
teeth with serrated edges. They would reveal the
identity of the dinosaur that feasted on the duck bill. These teeth belonged
to a lethal predator. It was dromaeosaurus,
from the family of-- raptors. [growling] The raptors, or dromaeosaurs,
were generally small animals, generally large
brained, large eyed. They're characterized by a very
large claw on the foot, which is kind of like a can opener. A very nasty looking claw which
had to be held off the ground, actually, because it was so
recurved and sharp at the end. These are incredibly
vicious little dinosaurs. They're built for speed
and maneuverability, and they're armed to the teeth-- literally. Although they're very small,
one would be more than a match for a grown man. But a pack of these
would be pure hell for most of the herbivores
that shared their environment. [growling] NARRATOR: These raptors
were small compared to most of the dinosaurs they hunted. They stood only 3 to 4 feet tall
at the hips, were 6 feet long, and weighed less
than 100 pounds. Their smaller size meant
that these dinosaurs had to be cautious when
taking on bigger prey. Having a delicate
skeleton almost requires that these animals,
in a sense, be careful. What that means is that they
must have some sort of agility that allows them to use these
weapons yet still protect themselves. What's interesting is that
we can now with this new CT technology look
inside their skulls for evidence of that
agility-- and we find it. When we look at
the inner ear, what we see is long, delicate canals
that suggest that these animals are relatively quick moving,
had good eye-hand coordination, and likewise, were
generally agile animals. NARRATOR: When these predators
jumped in to inflict damage, they relied on two basic
weapons to take down their prey. The first weapon
was their teeth. Dromaeosaurus was one of
the nastiest dinosaurs that was around. They had rather a very, very
sharp row of teeth, very, very blade-like. They were used in kind of
a cookie cutter action, if you will. [growling] Recurved teeth helps them
to slice through the meat. So they bite onto something,
and the teeth tear into it. And they got these
little serrations down the front and the back that
tear through the muscle fibers. The recurved part means
as the skull pulls back, it carves into the flesh and
helps tear out a nice chunk, so it helps them slice through
the meat much more effectively. NARRATOR: Sharp,
serrated, and recurved. Their teeth were capable of
causing some serious damage. But the most powerful weapon in
their arsenal was their claws. Basically, I think that
raptors relied very heavily on their hands and
their feet for killing. And you can see that in
the case of a raptor, you have claws that
are, in fact, bigger than its own teeth. That's telling you
something right there. Whereas in the case of, say,
Tyrannosaurus rex, if you look at the teeth of
Tyrannosaurus rex, they're as large as or
larger than the claws. So, again, there's
a reversal there, and it's telling you
that, OK, tyrannosaurs are using their mouth to kill. Dromaeosaurs are probably
using their hands and feet more than anything else. [roaring] NARRATOR: To compensate
for their smaller size, these raptors may
have hunted in packs. This would allow them to
take on much larger prey. Hunting in packs serves
a very important purpose when you're smaller than
the prey that you're around. Why spend your day chasing bugs
and small rodents when you can take down something much larger? We see this behavior in numerous
modern predators, like lions, wolves, hyenas, and even
crocodiles to a certain extent. When we look at
dromaeosaurus, what we see is an expanded cerebrum. That that expanded cerebrum
allowed them to hunt in packs, we can't say that. What we can suggest, however,
is that they might have had the cognitive
capabilities to actually deal with complex situations,
potentially to solve problems. Compared to other
predatory dinosaurs, they certainly were starting
out with a better sort of brain power that potentially
could have made that kind of capability possible. NARRATOR: Raptors
could even communicate with each other verbally
like modern birds. [screeching] [growling] When I looked
at the bite marks on the edmontosaurus'
tail, I could see that they were not very deep
and they were relatively small. That suggests to me that
whatever bit this dinosaur did not have the jaw
strength or long teeth necessary to really
bite deep into the hide. And then the discovery of
the raptor teeth found nearby clinched it for me. I believe the most
likely candidate for whoever left those small
bite marks on that tail was dromaeosaurus. NARRATOR: But was
there other evidence to support the notion that
raptors preyed upon the duck bill? Other dinosaur remains found at
a second site in South Dakota would prove they did. We actually have a site where
we found dromaeosaurus bones with edmontosaurus. And that's the
Ruth Mason Quarry, where we've got a bone bed of
several thousand individuals of edmontosaurus. And every once in a while,
we'd find a bone or two of dromaeosaurus in there. So they were not
only contemporaries, but, obviously, these
dromaeosaurs were out there feeding on these edmontosaurs. [roaring] NARRATOR: But why would
only the teeth of a raptor be found near the tail? When predatory dinosaurs
like dromaeosaurus feed, it's not unusual for them
to break off a tooth. In fact, their
teeth are actually made to break off and be
replaced by the tooth growing underneath it. This is a great way to
ensure that they always have a sharp set. Unless the dromaeosaurus is
killed in the process of eating his meal, the only
evidence you're going to find that they were
even there are these broken and shed teeth. NARRATOR: But the
questions still remain. Would a pack of raptors
be willing or able to take on a dinosaur 10
times their own size? Would a dromaeosaurus
go after an edmontosaurus? Well, a single
dromaeosaurus, no way. That'd be suicide for
that dromaeosaurus. It would get crushed. But if there were a situation
where a pack of dromaeosaurs could come at the sides
of the edmontosaurus. The edmontosaurus is
not an armored dinosaur. It's not protected on its sides. The dromaeosaurus
can go after them. And once it starts getting
weak, it's going to collapse, and they can finally go
after the real killing spot, the throat. Once that throat's really
exposed where they can get to it, they can bite in
there, they can slash, and that duck bill, it's got
no more chance at that point. NARRATOR: With deadly claws, a
mouthful of meat-slicing teeth, and strength in
numbers, science began to paint a picture of a battle
between a large plant eater and a pack of raptors. But investigators were about
to make another discovery-- evidence of a third dinosaur. [suspenseful music] It was the king of the
prehistoric kingdom. [roaring] And it would change everything
experts thought they knew about what happened here. [screeching] In the Badlands of South
Dakota, evidence pieced together a picture of a vicious attack
between a pack of raptors and a giant duck bill. [roaring] But a new discovery would
suggest that these raptors did not dine alone. Investigators continued
to study the remains, when they noticed that the tail
had a second set of bite marks. [roaring] But these were not raptors. Stunned is the only
word I can think of to describe my feelings
when I saw those second bite marks on the tail. These weren't thin,
shallow slash marks. These were made by big,
round, powerful teeth. And there was only one
dinosaur in the Late Cretaceous who had the teeth and jaw
muscles to make those marks-- and that's Tyrannosaurus rex. [growling] NARRATOR: T. rex. [roaring] The ultimate predator. This was the most powerful
and terrifying animal that ever walked the Earth. Every single animal that
lived within its territory would have spent their lives
in absolute fear of running into this thing. It was truly the ultimate
in predatory dinosaurs. [roaring] There's no animal living
today that has the strength of Tyrannosaurus rex. To try to come up with something
that had that kind of power-- I don't know, a howitzer? You know? This animal was so strong that
there's nothing, nothing that could escape if it decided
it wanted to eat it. [roaring] NARRATOR: T. rex stormed planet
earth around 90 million years ago and ruled it for
another 25 million years. [snarling] It weighed in at a staggering 7
tons, grew up to 16 feet tall, and ruled a domain
from Canada to Texas. With its robust teeth
and powerful bite, nothing could
withstand its attack. T. rex had to use those teeth
to crunch right through bone, and so it couldn't have
narrow teeth the way the other carnivorous
dinosaurs did. It had to make teeth that
were really, really wide. And it would have been
incredibly damaging to anything that it bit. NARRATOR: The T. rex teeth
were shaped very distinctly, like a serrated banana. [roaring] So investigators went
back to the drawing board, and one thing
immediately became clear. The T. rex did not
kill the edmontosaurus. There are only two big
teeth marks on the tail, and so I don't believe a
T. rex killed the dinosaur. Had it attacked and
killed it, I suspect we would have seen a lot
more evidence of that attack. The tail would have been one of
the natural targets of the rex, so we would expect to
see numerous bite marks and crushed and broken bones. But because we don't, it appears
that the duck bill was already dead before the T.
rex even showed up. NARRATOR: If the T. rex had
attacked the plant eater, the bones would have
been pulverized. But the size and shape
of the bite marks pointed to a raptor attack. It was a vital clue. This T. rex came on the
scene after the raptors made their move. Experts then took a step back
and began to piece together how this battle could have
started between the duck bill and a pack of raptors. They began by examining the
differences between predator and prey. If we're looking at
sheer physical strength, the edmontosaurus far overwhelms
the individual dromaeosaurs. Its individual leg
muscles are probably going to be as heavy as
an entire dromaeosaurus, so it's going to be
far more powerful. And maybe even if you total up
the muscular strength of all the pack compared to
the edmontosaurus, the edmontosaurus would
still probably win. So this is one where the
duck bill is definitely more powerful than the predators. NARRATOR: These raptors
relied on speed and agility to hunt and kill. It's estimated they could
run nearly 40 miles per hour. [dramatic music] Raptors, of
course, are animals that are very fast and
agile, and so the advantage of the dromaeosaurs
against an edmontosaurus would be their
speed and agility. By running in and
inflicting some damage and then pulling out again,
it could wait and see what the reactions are. And because multiple
raptors would probably attack at the same time, they
would keep the edmontosaurus' attention away from what the
ones were doing in behind until it was too late. NARRATOR: Using the
tactics of modern wolves and prides of lions would
have allowed dinosaurs like dromaeosaurus to bring
down much larger prey. Experts worked off the theory
that as with modern predators, raptors relied on
scent to forewarn them of approaching prey. In order for lions and wolves
to successfully take down their prey, the first thing
they have to do is locate it. This is where an acute sense of
smell gives them an advantage. Raptors would have relied
on the same sense of smell to detect and recognize their
prey long before they could see or even hear it. This way, the pack has
time to set up an ambush and surprise their victims. NARRATOR: We now know that
duck bills were among the most common dinosaurs in North
America during the Late Cretaceous. Experts believe that it defended
itself by wielding its tail like a giant club. It is estimated that a direct
hit would be enough to send a small car flying. Lots of remains stretched
over a wide landscape are a clear sign of success. When it comes to edmontosaurus,
we find tens of thousands of fossilized remains
throughout North America. Because we find so many, they
certainly had the ability to defend themselves. And so my guess is that their
tail was its primary weapon. But you better not
count out the raptor. It's designed to kill, and so
it has a very large arsenal. [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: Discoveries of
groups of dinodocus found at various sites was
one of the first clues that members of the raptor
family hunted in packs. [growling] Although these pack-like
hunting methods are used by modern
mammals, its origin lies with these early
birdlike dinosaurs. The T. rex had heavier bones
than the birdlike dinosaur. Its skeleton was built
for heavy duty power. [roaring] If a pack of raptors were
faced with something as massive as a Tyrannosaurus
rex, then they'd be faced with a life
or death decision-- fight or flight. Modern predators are faced
with these same decisions every single day. Do you stay and
take on your rival, or do you split and then
live to fight another day? [suspenseful music] NARRATOR: The T. rex marked
its territory with scent marks like modern cats and usually
stayed within these boundaries. But unlike most
dinosaurs, the T. rex was large and ferocious
enough to venture outside its territory
without much fear of attack. Based on the evidence we have
and knowing how modern pack hunting animals prey
on large herbivores, we have an idea of what
could have occurred. But it's not just
random guessing. We use as much science
and fossil evidence to support it as possible. NARRATOR: Using the latest in
high-tech scientific advances and knowledge of
animal behavior, experts were able to piece
together new clues about how a group of raptors
were able to coordinate their attack like a prehistoric
company of soldiers. [growling] You are about to see
a graphic depiction of a violent prehistoric battle. Viewer discretion is advised. 65 million years ago where
South Dakota is today, a lone duck bill is
searching for food. The evidence tells us he has
become separated from his herd. In his search for other
members of his own kind, the edmontosaurus wanders
aimlessly into the forest. His small brain is struggling
to adjust to being alone. He has no idea that
he's walking right into the center of the territory
of a pack of dromaeosaurus. NARRATOR: Dromaeosaurus. It is the scientific
name for raptors. It means swift running lizard,
and that is how they hunted. They would ambush their
prey and run them down. Usually, they would
take on smaller prey. But if a large herbivore
stumbled across their path, they would attack by instinct. Waiting for the
opportune moment to attack, a dromaeosaurus
remain motionless. Then the edmontosaurus
walks into view. Its size is immense compared
to these little raptors. The rest of the pack won't
attack until the alpha makes a move. Instinct tells her to leave
this giant animal alone. But seeing the intruder standing
right in the middle of her turf is more than she can take,
so she launches the attack. [dramatic music] NARRATOR: The duck bill had
a thick hide and the ability to shake rapidly to
throw off attackers. Raptors had terrific balance and
were able to land on their feet like cats. [growling] With lightning
speed, the raptors launch their second attack. This time, they focus on the
skull and the neck of the duck bill. Although their claws are sharp,
the hide of this edmontosaurus is really tough and
hard to penetrate. So they target a thinner
section, and that is the neck. NARRATOR: Raptors
were smart enough to target their attacks
to vulnerable areas, such as the eyes and throat. The idea was to disable their
victims quickly and watch them bleed to death to avoid a
protracted fight that could lead to injury. [roaring] Now on its hind legs,
it's in a position to use its massive
weight to its advantage. Waiting for the right
moment, it leans forward and crashes to the ground,
crushing one of the raptors under its front foot. NARRATOR: Raptors had
hollow bones like birds. Even the force of a
wooden baseball bat would have broken them in half. But scientists now
know something else-- that raptors communicated
using quick hand gestures. [growling] Raptors like dromaeosaurus
have fairly complex brains for a dinosaur. What makes them such
efficient killers is that they have the ability
to react to a situation in relatively short order. Launching a simultaneous attack
is a very effective maneuver when attacking something
as big as edmontosaurus. NARRATOR: The edmontosaurus'
skin was up to 3 inches thick and was covered with
small, round armor-like calluses. [screeching] Because the duck
bill's hide is so thick, the raptors are unable
to score a decisive blow. But in their case, quantity is
just as effective as quality. If they can continue to
inflict enough small wounds, the loss of blood will
have the same effect as one major injury. This slash and dash approach
works well for the raptors, and it keeps them
out of harm's way. NARRATOR: Smarter,
faster, and better armed. The raptor pack continues
to launch an endless barrage of attacks. But they have no idea that
they've attracted attention. The monster of the
prehistoric world is about to hit the scene. [screeching] A three-way battle
is about to erupt. A single male duck bill,
unaware of his surroundings, has walked directly into the
den of a pack of raptors. The raptors' assault would
often be led by an alpha female. The rest of the pack would mimic
how and where she attacked. With larger prey, the strategy
would be to surround the victim and overwhelm it. There's just no way he can
continue to fight these smaller but faster adversaries. If he can make it out of the
forest and into the open, he'll have the advantage. There, he'll have the room
to swing that massive tail. One hit from that tail
on those lightly built raptors will turn them to mush. NARRATOR: Raptors were
typically cautious creatures, but once they tasted
blood in a fight, they were overcome
by adrenaline. Almost nothing could make
them break off the attack. Their brains focused
on only thing-- finishing their prey. This would send them
into a fighting frenzy. These raptors know
every inch of the terrain. They have a particular spot
where they're going to try to drive the duck bill towards. If they can drive him
into it, he'll never see the light of day again. [dramatic music] NARRATOR: The enormous
tail of the edmontosaurus, typically used to balance
its massive frame, was re-enforced by a series of
interconnecting rods that made it stiff but strong, making it
a potent weapon that could be swung like the arm of a crane. [roaring] The T. rex was able
to sense vibrations through the pads in
its feet, allowing it to track large herbivores. Tyrannosaurus rex is capable
of picking up vibrations through the pads of its feet. The sound waves
created by the battle are transmitted
through the ground, into the feet, up the skeleton,
and then into the inner ear. So T. rex is able to feel
the battle through his feet. Every time the edmontosaurus
stomps its foot, it creates a ground tremor,
and the rex uses those tremors to zero in on the target. [growling] [roaring] NARRATOR: Edmontosaurus'
tail was attached to powerful muscles enabling it
to swing with surprising speed. Raptors used a variety
of psychological tricks when fighting. This included rushing at the
victim's face to confuse it. It was also able to mimic
noises, perhaps even echoing the sounds of its prey. [roaring] Although these cuts to
the throat are not deep, the alpha continues to attack
the same spot over and over again. These raptors have succeeded in
driving this 4-ton meal right onto their dinner plate. NARRATOR: T. rex had a superior
sense of smell, more powerful even than today's dogs. It could have picked up the
scent of blood from miles away. This would immediately
send it running. [thudding approaching] Predators are opportunistic,
and the bigger they are, the more opportunities
they have. Unfortunately for the
raptors, their battle has attracted the attention
of the biggest opportunist in North America. And they don't call him
the king for nothing. [roaring] [screeching] [roaring] [screeching] [roaring] NARRATOR: Raptors would
never fight a T. rex. These raptors
are just outgunned. There is no way they're
going to stay and fight. Heck, they won't even stay
and challenge this monster. They'll do what small
predators have always had to do when someone
bigger takes their food. They just have to
wait their turn and hope he leaves some scraps. NARRATOR: The Tyrannosaurus rex
had massive jaws able to open almost 5 feet wide. It could clamp down around
the tail of even the largest herbivores. The T. rex' neck was the
width of a grown man's waist and incredibly strong. It could act like a
massive steam shovel in picking up prey that
weighed over 5 tones. While it didn't fear
other predators, it would still drag its prey
back to its own territory, like a lion would, to
avoid a potential fight. Although that
tail has meat on it, the most sought after
parts of the carcass lie between the
neck and the hips, and that's the part that
Tyrannosaurus rex carries off. These Raptors have put in way
too much energy to just walk away from this meal. Their role has now changed
from hunter to scavenger. It's a survival mechanism
that all predators share. Pride is not a dinosaur trait. Living to fight another day is. NARRATOR: Raptors were
fearless fighters. They did not fear any other
dinosaur in the world-- except the T. rex. Tyrannosaurus was simply
king of the world. Even a pack of
raptors was no match for this nightmarish monster who
was the most ferocious predator of all time. [roaring] Next week on
"Jurassic Fight Club." It exploded with the force
of a million nuclear bombs and unleashed the
power of the sun. It set the world on fire
and cooked the atmosphere. What was once a vibrant
planet became a wasteland where the prehistoric world was
vaporized and turned to ash. [dramatic music]
