TheMusicMan

Its not speculative, its fact. The Spinosaurus was the biggest meat eating dinosaur ever, period. Doesn't mean it was the strongest though. It ate fish after all.

Otto I

To 99,99 % that is not correct. It is very likely that Harpagornis moorei (Haast’s eagle) was a man-eater. Also it is very likely for Stephanoaetus mahery (malagasy crowned eagle) to eat humans. The main prey of both were large two-legged organisms. And well, when people reached the islands, they fit that category rather perfectly.

VHS

Some extent birds (avian dinosaurs) are potential man-killers.
Raptors are dangerous to a degree； they are rarely fatal.
Ratites (forget about the little kiwis here!) can disembowel humans with a kick!

Corvidius

This will be something else to argue about as regards T.rex.
The BBC are screening a documentary on Jan 2, "The Real T.Rex with Chris Packham". Sinister sound of Tyrannosaurus Rex heard for first time in 66 million years

Here is a shot of the CGI Rex. It looks like they have Yutyrannus in mind for it's "dino fuzz". Maybe one day somebody will depicted one with eyes like it's real closest relative, a bird, with round pupils, but they insist on making them more like crocs with slitted pupils. We will never know, but it would make a change. I think that an animal of the hight of T.rex would need vision to be able to see out to the distance well, and that is why lions have round pupils and not vertical slits, as the round pupil gives better vision out to the horizon.


Video that shows that they seem to have extended the fuzz down it's back.

starman

It's also worth noting that T. rex's brain had large lobes dealing with sense of sight, and smell.

Otto I

It's not that Tyrannosaurus is overrated, it's just that most of the other dinosaurs are underrated!

Scaeva

I can't believe the second video didn't include the sound of what scientists think T-Rex may have sounded like. The title is clickbait without it.

This link has the "roar" for anyone that is curious, and it does sound intimidating.

starman

Many sauropods were a lot more massive. Other theropods matched or even surpassed T. rex in size. But none had its combination of great size and sophistication.

Otto I

On the one hand, there are a lot more factors which make a dinosaur interesting than purely size and sophistication. And secondly I would argue that there were, for example the closely related Tarbosaurus bataar.




Here is a very interesting and fun lecture by Dr. Thomas Holtz, why I think Tyrannosaurus is so interesting:

stevev

According to a poll done by Ivy in 2009, T Rex wins by a landslide. I never heard of the second place dino but that only means that those polled know their dinosaurs better than me. Also, have no idea who Ivy is but who cares?


Ranking of the Most Popular Dinosaurs - Classora Knowledge Base