I’ll defer to actual paleontologists (or anyone who drops links), but my guess is T-Rex could go a month without food easy. Most modern large reptiles typically go a long time between meals.
Edit: following the intense scholarship in this thread, I have changed my stance. T-Rex probably would not survive a month without food (or water). BUT ALSO, the entity setting the rules and betting 500 mil on it surviving is going to know that. So the Dino’s getting fed either way.
Big bugs were in the carboniferous, about 350-300 million years ago.
Dinos didn’t evolve until about 240 million years ago, and didn’t take over the world until about 200 million years ago. T Rex evolved quite late as far as non-avian dinos go, only about 68 million years ago.
Unlike modern reptiles, the T-rex was warm blooded, much like their close relatives birds, so their metabolic rate would be higher than, say, crocodiles, lizards, turtles, etc. Their food needs would be way higher than cold blooded reptiles, so a month without food would be more challenging. Might survive a month if it gorged itself beforehand, but quite likely not.
I’m not sure it would be possible for such large animals, they require a lot more energy to keep the heat up due* to larger skin surface.
I could be wrong though, happy to be corrected.
Square-cube law would be in effect - for large animals, things that scale with mass or volume outpace things that scale with surface area. Though what result that would have in this case I can’t quite puzzle out.
I’ll defer to actual paleontologists (or anyone who drops links), but my guess is T-Rex could go a month without food easy. Most modern large reptiles typically go a long time between meals.
Edit: following the intense scholarship in this thread, I have changed my stance. T-Rex probably would not survive a month without food (or water). BUT ALSO, the entity setting the rules and betting 500 mil on it surviving is going to know that. So the Dino’s getting fed either way.
I’m also no dinologist, but wouldn’t the T-Rex be used to higher mix of oxygen in the atmosphere? I wonder if it would just pass out from hypoxia
I thought O2 was higher during the time of the dinosaurs? Maybe that was earlier… I don’t remember when the time of the big bugs was.
Big bugs were in the carboniferous, about 350-300 million years ago.
Dinos didn’t evolve until about 240 million years ago, and didn’t take over the world until about 200 million years ago. T Rex evolved quite late as far as non-avian dinos go, only about 68 million years ago.
You could be right… that far back it’s easy to mix up which millions and millions of years you’re talking about
Unlike modern reptiles, the T-rex was warm blooded, much like their close relatives birds, so their metabolic rate would be higher than, say, crocodiles, lizards, turtles, etc. Their food needs would be way higher than cold blooded reptiles, so a month without food would be more challenging. Might survive a month if it gorged itself beforehand, but quite likely not.
I think you’re right.
There are some scaling issues I think.
Achully, these days scientists believe they would be feathering issues.
I can’t thank you enough for grabbing that setup.
Feathers don’t mean there aren’t scales as well, especially just protofeathers. Think pangolin?
I set up a scaling joke. While I appreciate your pedantry, I hope you enjoyed the jokes.
Oh, the joke was fantastic, thank you. I’m just legitimately interested in how feathery dinosaurs were at various points.
Growing up in a fundie house… I hope everyone is interested in how fabulous dinos were.
What about water
Now you mention it, the rules don’t say that you get water.
And, it only says you get food. It doesn’t explicitly say that the T-Rex doesn’t. You could argue it wouldn’t be a fair fight if he didn’t.
I’m not sure it would be possible for such large animals, they require a lot more energy to keep the heat up due* to larger skin surface.
I could be wrong though, happy to be corrected.
Square-cube law would be in effect - for large animals, things that scale with mass or volume outpace things that scale with surface area. Though what result that would have in this case I can’t quite puzzle out.
What about water?
I changed my mind and edited my comment.