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WSJ:T. Rex Had Lizard-like Lips That Covered Its Teeth


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Conjure up an image of Tyrannosaurus rex in a Hollywood blockbuster. The meat-eating dinosaur’s long, serrated teeth taper to sharp points that protrude from a gaping maw bared wide in a roar. As the predator closes those jaws around its prey, its upper teeth remain exposed in a fanged smile. 

 

But new research is challenging these popular-culture depictions. The teeth of T. rex and its two-legged, three-toed meat-eating kin—known as theropods—were likely covered by thin, scaly lips resembling those of some modern lizards, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

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The teeth-out T. rex depiction, Dr. Witton said, can be traced back to the idea that this animal’s closest living relative is the crocodile—and that these living reptiles have mostly exposed teeth and no lips. Plus, some Tyrannosaur teeth might have been 6 inches or longer—a seemingly impossible length to fit inside a mouth, or so paleontologists thought.  For the new study, the group compared the tooth-size-to-skull-length relationship in more than 20 theropod specimens from museum and research-institution collections to those in various living and extinct lizard species. Even though the dinosaur teeth and skulls were ultimately bigger, the skull-tooth size relationship among the theropods closely resembled that observed in modern-day monitor lizards, such as Komodo dragons, that have covered teeth.   

 

The researchers also compared various bony characteristics of theropod skulls and jaws to those of crocodiles and lizards. “You can use various lumps and bumps and scars of a skeleton to get an idea of where the overlying muscles, soft tissues and skin go,” Dr. Witton said. The dinosaur specimens were more lizard-like than crocodile-like, he added.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/t-rexs-teeth-didnt-protrude-outside-its-jaws-unlike-fearsome-hollywood-depictions-e04dc630?mod=e2tw

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Wokeness has gone too far! First they want to say T-Rex had feathers and now this?

  • Haha 1
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