I used to have a recurring adventure dream/nightmare like this when I was a kid. Except the hut was NOT indestructible.
When was the last time it ate before going into the arena?
Wait until it falls asleep infront of the hut, slit it's throat and run back inside
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.
If you're fed, it's highly likely the T Rex is also fed.
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.
Chances are they probably only ate every 1 to 2 weeks by default.
What did they even do all day then?
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.
lay in ambush. Which, you know, involves laying around for long stretches of time
Great line to remember for my boss
Probably smoked weed and played Fortnite, they were likely a bunch of wankers.
wankers
With those arms? uh oh
Really long wein
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?
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.
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.
Somewhat related comment. Is it possible to kill a human with a thumbtack?
You could totally rip open a neck artery with a thumbtack.
I imagine an infection would be the most likely killer. Maybe eventual bloodloss? Though that would take quite some time.
Get him to swallow it, and maybe.
Yes, you just have to be patient
Wait a month in the hut, if it dies on its own I win, if not I live anyway.
And you got a month of free room and board!
Except you didn't kill it, it just died. You did not win.
I'll kill it by removing it's food source
I would be so down. I would die, but it would be awesome.
Tell the T Rex the mysterious of the universe and watch it neck itself over the realization of it's futile existence.
Too easy.
That only works on philosoraptors.
One month? After one week, something is dead unless there’s plentiful food.
Oddly enough, the larger an animal is, the less food it generally needs relative to its body mass. "Kleiber's law" basically says that an animal's energy requirements increase more slowly than its body mass. A rex would have had enormous absolute energy requirements, but could likely have survived considerably longer than a week without eating.
I'd just wait for it to die of the common flu
I'll just stay inside the hut thanks. An animal that big will starve to death without anything substantial to eat. And by substantial I mean like elephants and shit. These animals needed a lot, and I mean a LOT, of calories to keep going. One month should be plenty of time for attrition to get the job done. If I have to actively participate in its death though, I'll just wait until starvation/illness weaken it to the point where it can barely move, make some spears by sharpening stone sticks, and stab it through the eyes until it stops breathing.
I was about to post that there was also more oxygen in the atmosphere during dinosaur times hence why they were so big, but I did a search to make sure and it turns out to be a debunked myth. There was a high oxygen era, but not during dinosaurs. TIL
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