There never was any evidence they were scavengers and numerous fossil examples that T. Rex did infact hunt large herbivores for food. The most notable being a T. Rex’s tooth found in a hadrosaur’s spine, and the wound showed signs of healing meaning the hadrosaur was alive when it was bit and survived the encounter.
Other evidence includes fossilized footprints suggesting a group of T. Rex of differing ages stalking their prey. This isn’t to say the T. Rex wouldn’t take advantage of a dead animal and opportunistically scavenge, as any large predator will today, but this probably wasn’t their primary means of getting food.
There never was any evidence they were scavengers and numerous fossil examples that T. Rex did infact hunt large herbivores for food. The most notable being a T. Rex’s tooth found in a hadrosaur’s spine, and the wound showed signs of healing meaning the hadrosaur was alive when it was bit and survived the encounter.
Other evidence includes fossilized footprints suggesting a group of T. Rex of differing ages stalking their prey. This isn’t to say the T. Rex wouldn’t take advantage of a dead animal and opportunistically scavenge, as any large predator will today, but this probably wasn’t their primary means of getting food.