Was just curious as to what people thought as the bad boy/girls of the paleo world was. Decided to kick off the pole by voting for Allosaurus myself.

Velociraptor...probably the fiercest dino in that poll...I'm surprised you don't have Utahraptor, Gigonatosaurus, and Carcharodontosaurus...

I would of voted for Utahraptor

And smart too...

That was the hard part of putting this pole together was picking only ten to put on the list. I tried to get as diversified as I could with the options.

i voted spinosaurus, the movie jurassic park 3 bassically says what it could do if it and t-rex ever got into a fight, even if its fiction or not..

I agree about spino, only it is not fiction. The sail strongly suggests that theropods were cold blooded, as lizards are th only other animals with a similar structure. This idea also supported by a remarkably preserved embryo, the visible organs suggesting a cold blooded animal. If that is the case, spino's sail means it could control it body temperature more efficeintly than any other theropod. Plus many scientists believe it is the largest known theropod, with the largest jaws and possibly the largest forearms of any theropod giving it more "weapons" in any hypethetical fight. This is why it was selected as the "ultimate super predator" in JPIII by the real paleontologists hired as technical advisors..

Agreed, but raptors were probably more ferocious.

Lets not forget that it is believed that Allosaurus hunted in packs. Though not as agile, or perhaps as smart as velociraptor but they also brought down large prey like the sauropods.

pretty much every meat eater was its own bad ass in a certain way :/

Giganatosaurus hunted Argentinosaurus....possible by themselves...

I agree that for its size a "raptor" would be one of the most ferocious, but an adult spino, could gulp down a whole pack of them like they were popcorn.

Yep, the Giganatosaurus were larger than the T-Rex and Spinosaurus....mean lizard.

I voted for velociraptor for the reasons mentioned above they were more of a stealty pack hunter. They had a head full of razor sharp teeth and 2 hands with sharp claws and lets not forget about the claws on there feet....
I will have to disagree about the comments about spinosaurus and T-Rex, they have yet to find an animal with the type of skull as the T-Rex, the bone area where the jaw muscles were place were greater then spino, giganato. and Carcharo. That means stronger bite force then again the shape of the dagger like teeth and a bigger brain. Oh also it had better depth perception by having a wider head, that another benifit for the T-Rex.

Giganatosaurus had to really be something else to hunt the Argentinosaurus, them damn things were huge. I was at the Field Museum here in Chicago and Sue the T-Rex is really something else. They say she had her ribs broken from a bite from another T-Rex and she lived cause there was T-Rex tooth fragments in the healed ribs and the ribs had some bone growth. They also say she had a fatal head injury that killer her and it was from a bite to the face from another T-Rex... If she is the biggest T-Rex found so far can you imagine the one that killed her...... Sorry for being alittle off topic but damn!!!!!

Too bad we couldn't see who would win in a fight....

What about the Megalodon, that giant shark dinosaur? i konw he was pretty much confined to the waters, but that thing could tear stuff up! i did a google image search and found some amazing pics of it.

in terms of the dinosaurs listed, i'm torn between the Spinosaurus and the Velociraptor. The Spinosaurus is huge and fierce, and it could go in water as well as on land. the Velociraptor was intellligent, hunted in packs, and very vicious, so it's hard. it's like comparing which food you like better: steak or pizza. you like them both in different ways.

Ummmm, Megalodon was a shark, not a dino....

Spinosaurus was more of a fish-eater...yum, fish

still, wasn't it around along with the other dinosaurs? and it was a predator, and i think it would count as a dinosaur. If T-Rexes survived to this day, we'd still call them a dinosaur back then. even the name Megalodon sounds like a dinosaur name.

Yes, so?


Sorry You're wrong...


Yes, so?


Actually it doesn't

There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between dinos and sharks.

Alright, what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur?

LOOOL

Sorry, my ribs are hurting....
First of all, they lived from around 215 MYA to 65 MYA, they were REPTILE, they ruled the LAND.....

Thats basically Dinos for Dummies in a nutshell...

Do you really need more?

heh looks as if I should have made the poll about prehistoric creatures in general. Megaladons where pretty nasty great white sharks.

Perhaps I will put something together for Aquatic critters and airborn critters as well.

Frogfish, Spino did eat fish, but they have found proof that he ate other dinosaurs and even pterosaurs as well.

T Rex may have had stronger jaws, but crocodiles have the most powerful jaws in the animal kingdom today, and a spinos jaws are nearly identical to a crocs. Moreovers the spinos conical teeth are a lot stouter than the thin, easily broken teeth of the T-Rex. Then there is the advantage of better thermoregulation with its sail, and finally, huge clawed arms compared to the puny, useless arms of the T rex. Put two relatively equal fighters of the same size in the ring, and tie one guys arms behind his back and you have a simulation of the T rex vs Spino fight. Its a no brainer who would win, just like what the dino experts thought that advised the making of Jurassic Park III.

As for Megalodon, sharks were just food for the huge and terrible marine reptiles of the mesozoic who ruled the seas and were not very big . It was only when the marine reptiles went extinct that the Megs had their day. And then when the marine mammals evolved, they pushed meg out of the niche as the super marine predator which ultimately became the sperm whale. Yes there may still be a few very large sharks around, but the marine mammals and marine reptiles were superior creatures, it is only a matter of studying the fossil record.

Well, bottom line is:
I'm glad I don't have to compete with them at the grocery store!

They would probably be in line in front of me with 76 coupons and several rolls of pennies.

not to mention working at the store, Imagine hearing "Clean up in aisle 7, Mrs. Harriot Diplodocus had an accident again."

ROFLMAO, stop! It hurts!
This is a way bad post but omg that is funny!

I know DC, but they probably mainly ate fish, as Baryonx, Suchomimus, and Irritator mainly preyed on fish.

Megalodon was dwarfed by many of the giant reptiles of it day...no o mention probably out competes with one hell of a fish- Xiphactinus.

Some Plankton-feeders even dwarfed it [Megalodon]!

The fish I'm talking about? Leedsichthys

I wasn't judging the Megalodon based on its size. I didn't think we were judging any of these predators based on their size. also, i was under the impression that it was still being disputed as to whether or not dinosaurs were reptiles, at least the same kind of reptiles we have around today.

Ed, many scientists believe all of the archosaurs should be in a different order than the primitive, regular reptiles, which are the snakes, lizards and turtles. On the other hand crocodiles birds and dinosaurs are all archosaurs and all are structurally very different from reptiles. It is hard for people to imagine that crocs and birds are closer relatives than crocs and lizards, but it is true.

The mystery though is that dinosaurs could have largely been more like the cold blooded crocs than the warm blooded birds, and they were related to both!

As far a Megalodon, it is only the huge size that makes it so impressive. We really only know the creature from its teeth, and they are so much like a Great White Sharks, that we can surmise they were pretty much the same thing. I believe they mostly ate squid, and occupied relatively the same niche as the sperm whale today as the oceans "super predator". That's why there are no, or very few megs today. The sperm whale is a more efficient hunter of the large cephalopods.

And Frogfish, even if Spino mostly ate fish, the same as true of nile and salt water crocodiles, yet adults of these creatures are probably the most formidible "land" predators in the world today, and hunt some of the biggest land animals as well as fish. Can you doubt the outcome if an over 20 foot, 3 ton crocodile were pitted against any bear or feline? When equal size and weight, yeah, the mammal might win some of the time, but never if the croc is over 3 times its size.

lets not forget that even some of the smaller Dino's were pretty good hunters for their smaller size. Granted Deinonychus wouldn't have much of a chance going up against a large predator but they where pretty bad in their own right.

True


I'm not taking anything away from the Spino, it was a fantastic hunter...but depends what prey is available. You don't need to tell me to compare a 20 foot croc to some lion....You probably also know this, bu many smaller caimans (10 foot) can kill adult jaguars. A 20 foot croc would be unmatched.

Its just depends on what prey is available....Wilderbeest during the biannual Serengeti migrations, fish and the occasional mammal/bird for the rest of the year...We however cannot discredit the huge sickle claw on he forearms of baryonyx...More likely a tool for snagging fish...but an efficient hunter nontheless.

I wouldn't say unmatched....
A few times I have read and seen pictures of a Bengal Tiger kill a 14 and 15 foot Croc.
Heres one video...
http://www.gkko.com/extreme-videos/1076/tiger-kills-croc/

Tiger is about 9ft head to tail tip, the croc was longer by a bit not sure exactly. I have seen a 14'+ Croc. get killed in a magazine too.

Good vid....

I voted for the Velociraptor, at 40lbs. POUND for POUND I believe they are the more formidable... try to imagine 7.5 to 9 TONS worth of Velociraptors 375 to 450... thats how much the Spinosaurus was thought to weigh... I don't think any animal! could survive a concentrated attack by that many....

They were 2 meters tall. I think they weighed more than 40 pounds.
But yes, their intelligence and ferocity wasn't matched until homosapiens appeared.

Intelligance, pack hunting and the ability to adapt and learn would make a predator very successfull no doubt about that.

Velociraptor had a stiffened tail, which was always held straight behind the body. This granted it superior balance and turning ability. Like its larger American relative Deinonychus, Velociraptor may have hunted in packs to make up for its prey's size advantage, though there is no evidence for this. Velociraptor was probably warm-blooded to some degree, as it would need great quantities of energy to hunt, and animals that possess feathery or furry coats, like Velociraptor, tend to be warm blooded since these coverings function as insulation.

Velociraptor had a skull length of 249 mm (9.80 in), a total length of 1.8 m (6 ft), a hip height of 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in), and weighs 20 kg (45 lb).

Velociraptor

I stand corrected Pax. There sure looked a lot heavier than that in Jurassic Park!

I am not so impressed with them anymore. May I change my vote?

20 foot crocs are unmatched though

at least till it meets a tiger...

Or a large Constrictor like a python or boa that gets up the gumption to eat a croc. Bite power doesn't mean a thing when you can't open your jaws and your being suffocated to death.

There was a cool pic a few days back on the net. It was of a huge (but not huge enough) constrictor that had swallowed a croc, and then exploded!
If I can find the pic, I will edit it into this post.

Edit: Here is the article.

That pic is what I was refering to and was looking for it myself but since you're gonna do the legwork on that one will go ahead and let ya. It is believed that the croc was still alive when the snake tried to eat it and it attempted to claw it's way out but both croc and snake died.

Guess you don't need limbs at all to be a baddy, even against a creature that has been around since the mighty dinosaurs.

newbloodmoon

Recheck my post above, I added the link to it.

the Raptors in Jurassic park were during most of the filming where fictional Hollywood raptors. It wasn't until post production I believe that Utah Raptor was discovered and it was about the size portrayed in the movies. So this was a case of science "copying" art so to speak in very loose terms.

and saw the link you had posted.

At 30-45 lbs, Velociraptor was just a very large turkey with a bad attitude. If one avoids the jaws and teeth, (big if there) it would not be that difficult to fend one off.

Six or eight would pose a bit of a problem though...

The tiger in the vid. was only a Bengal, Siberian's are much bigger. Poor 20' Croc.......

More like poor Tiger. 20 foot crocs are faster, stronger, and once they get a hold, they won' let go...over 4000 psi!

I seem to recall an "animal challenge" show where they scientifically simulated a fight beteen adult lion a and rather "average" croc of around 10 feet or so, and the croc won in that too, but as with the tiger vid, at that size it could go either way. But a 20 footer, the only non-human land animal it would ever consider to avoid might be an elephant. A 20 foot croc, raised up in the "high walk" is as tall at his shoulders as a small horse, and could easily swallow a man or even a tiger whole.

you're forgetting the vicious retractable claw...

I did'nt see the Utahraptor on the list... and the Velociraptor from JP was approximately 6 ft tall, the Utahraptor is nearly 10 ft tall...

UTAHRAPTOR