How could scientist know that t Rex ate meat?

Answer 1

Scientists are able to tell the foods that dinosaurs ate because of many different circumstances. One of these is the fossilization of the stomach contents of the dinosaur. For example, if an Allosaurus were to be fossilized after it had consumed a meal, then some of the stomach contents would also be fossilized, though in the case of dinosaurs it would have much less of these preserved stomach contents.

Another way that scientists were able to tell the stomach contents was actually examining the fossils of the dinosaur's prey. Often times, the dinosaur would have left bite marks where the teeth slashed into the bone, making large gashes in the bone that would be preserved in fossilization.

However, the two methods described above are actually only valid for carnivorous dinosaurs. Herbivores would actually have their teeth examined, which would show both the wear on the teeth, and also quite obviously the shape of the teeth, which would be adapted to chew up its food. From there, Scientists are able to make an educated guess, where they would see what kinds of modern plants descended from prehistoric plants had which kinds of traits. From there they would examine the teeth, finding which plant the tooth would appear to be well-adapted to eating, then tracing the plant back to its dinosaur-age ancestor, and thus finding out the food of the dinosaur.

True enough. Another, somewhat more uncertain way, is to note the coprolites (fossilized dung) and break it up for analysis. Chemical analysis is useless of course because such fossils are no longer organic in nature, but one can often see what was excreted and estimate what was ingested. And of course, there is the disadvantage of not being sure what animal deposited the fossil. However, if one finds piles of coprolites amidst large numbers of bones of a single dinosaurian species, it's a pretty fair guess that the dung was deposited by them

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Answer 2

By their teeth. Some teeth are for shredding coarse food and bones. These teeth would be sharper than the teeth needed to eat leaves and berries. Also, a predator animal (meat eater) has eyes that look straight ahead, while an animal who is hunted (like a rabbit or wild turkey) has their eyes located toward the sides of their head. That is so it can see the predator animal from many directions giving it a chance to escape from the predator. Scientists can look at the skulls of the animals and be able to tell if they are meat eaters or vegetarians.

Answer 3

You can tell what a dinosaur eats based on its teeth. If a dinosaurs teeth are dull and flat then they were most likely used for chewing plants so they are herbivores. If their teeth are sharp they were most likely used for tearing meat so they would be carnivores.