[HarHarVeryFunny]

Presumably adults normally went after prey large enough to satisfy their appetite, but push come to shove would have eaten smaller prey too, just as a modern lion prefers a decent meal like a zebra but will still eat anything from a rodent on up if it's hungry or an easy chance presents itself.

The "can't see adults going after these" seems a sloppy throw-away comment, not based on any evidence, and ignoring common sense!

[ravi-delia]

Large carnivores are kind of the pricey boondoggles of evolution. They work, they are successful, but they're balanced on a knifes edge. Every step a large carnivore takes consumes vastly more energy than it would cost a smaller animal. It is all too possible for such a creature to expend more energy pursuing small prey than it would get back. That is why lions don't hunt small game- they'll scavenge small game by driving off smaller carnivores from their kills, and they certainly won't turn down eggs if they find any, but they will not pursue prey beneath a certain size. Imagine trying to catch a rat with your hands- exhausting work, and the rat isn't much food

[HarHarVeryFunny]

I was watching "Our Planet 2" on Netflix last night and they showed a pack of lions taking down a huge male cape buffalo. 3 min from start to meal time. Very efficient!