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[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 39 points 21 hours ago

This is easy.

We're locked in the arena. I'm safe in my indestructible hut. I also get food. So all I have to do is sit there and wait for the t-rex to starve to death and/or die of dehydration.

With literally zero expenditure of effort I'll make the $500mm in like two weeks.

[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 11 points 12 hours ago

If you're fed, it's highly likely the T Rex is also fed.

[-] NuanceDemon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

A predator like that probably won't starve in a month. Its a bit hard to say, you could compare with a crocodile (larger ones can fast for 2 - 3 years) but they are cold blooded which is a huge metabolic advantage here.

Lions can go 2 weeks without eating, and are far smaller which means there's less of them to waste away before they perish. A massive predator like a rex would having huge amounts of mass to lose before it died.

Chances are they probably only ate every 1 to 2 weeks by default. A month is not much of a stretch for it, so you likely fail.

[-] TeNppa@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago
[-] NuanceDemon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago

I think you misread me, that is the common theory yeah

[-] TeNppa@sopuli.xyz 1 points 14 minutes ago

Ahh reading over again you're right my bad!

[-] Hupf@feddit.org 6 points 19 hours ago

Chances are they probably only ate every 1 to 2 weeks by default.

What did they even do all day then?

[-] SippyCup@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago

Predators tend to spend most of their time just laying around.

We suspect dinosaurs were metabolically similar to Komodo dragons, which are also probably an example of island dwarfism. So they're probably the closest analog we have. And they either eat scraps or lay in ambush. Which, you know, involves laying around for long stretches of time.

[-] Hupf@feddit.org 4 points 13 hours ago

lay in ambush. Which, you know, involves laying around for long stretches of time

Great line to remember for my boss

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

Probably smoked weed and played Fortnite, they were likely a bunch of wankers.

[-] Hupf@feddit.org 3 points 16 hours ago
[-] androogee@midwest.social 6 points 15 hours ago

Really long wein

[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 2 points 19 hours ago

I'm not sure I agree on the longevity. Trex is no crocodile that can sit there with essentially zero energy expenditure for hours/days/weeks; Trex stands upright and has to walk which requires a lot of muscle output.

Also what about water? Are you saying it wouldn't die of dehydration either?

[-] NuanceDemon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 19 hours ago

Why would it be wandering around if it was stuck in a relatively small space? It can sit or lie down, being bipedal doesn't mean it needs to be constantly standing or walking.

I looked into this afterward and there's actually a study by Barrick and Showers (1999) estimating that a large tyrannosaur could consume 2 - 3 weeks' worth of food in a single meal, and that's before accounting for its existing fat reserves. Remember, a starving animal will burn through its fat reserves and eventually its muscle tissue before it dies, so at that size it's potentially got significant runway.

There's also Kleiber's law, which says larger animals have proportionally lower energy requirements relative to their body mass. Obviously a rex would need an enormous amount of food in absolute terms, but that doesn't mean it would actually need to eat particularly frequently. Throw that all together and i highly doubt a month would be enough to starve one to death.

Dehydration is a much better argument though, I'll give you that. I've no idea how long a rex could survive without water, and I doubt anyone can reliably estimate it. I'd imagine that would kill it long before starvation did.

Although interestingly, the original scenario only says you're provided with food, it doesn't actually mention water for either of you.

But if it rained, water would pool in its footprints and you'd definitely be screwed.

[-] adarza@lemmy.ca 7 points 21 hours ago

your hut is in the middle. the food delivery is at one end or the other because you ~~don't~~ can't tip enough (weren't given any money) for the dashers to risk their lives delivering a sack of soggy tacos.

[-] SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today 1 points 19 hours ago

If you have to walk through trex territory to get food/water then it's much harder....

this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2026
377 points (96.8% liked)

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