Tyrannosaurus is always associated with the image of a fearsome predator and sharp teeth sticking out. However, long-familiar images may have misrepresented this dinosaur.
Tyrannosaurus rex (tyrannosaurus, T-rex) is one of the best known and best known dinosaurs. They are always associated with images of scary looks, with sharp teeth that are always sticking out ready to deliver deadly bites.
The scary image of T-rex became famous and better known through the blockbuster movie “Jurassic Park”. However, recent studies have shown that we may have completely misrepresented and reproduced the image of tyrannosaurs.
A new study published in the scientific journal Science last week concluded that T-rex and other theropod dinosaurs possessed scaly lips to cover their teeth.
Scientists confirm that the teeth of tyrannosaurs do not protrude when they close their mouths, and even when opening their mouths to bite, only the tips of the teeth stick out, instead of the entire teeth which are always in an “exposed” state. ” like the long-described images of this dinosaur.
This is the latest result of a lengthy study that has re-examined what a dinosaur’s mouth would actually have looked like.
“Some people think that the teeth of the T-rex are too large to fit in their mouths and will always stick out, but that’s not true,” study author Thomas Cullen, paleontologist Physics at Auburn University (Alabama, USA), said. Professor Collen said some dinosaurs had a larger ratio of teeth to skull size than T-rex, but were still covered by lips.
The scientists also found clues about the tooth surface being eroded to confirm that T-rex’s teeth were covered by lips.
“For some creatures like crocodiles, whose teeth protrude out of the mouth, the exposed tooth is rapidly worn away, like someone using a polishing machine to grind on one side of the tooth,” said co-author of the study. Research program Mark Witton, paleontologist at the University of Portsmouth (UK), said. “However, when we analyzed a tooth from Daspletosaurus, a close relative of the T-rex, we found the tooth to be in good condition with no signs of uneven wear.”
The results of this study have been agreed by many other scientists. Paleontologist Thomas Holtz at the University of Maryland (USA) is one of them. Although he did not participate in the research, but based on his own research, he believes that T-rex dinosaurs and other theropods all possessed lips to cover the outer teeth. However, these are just thin and scaly lips, similar to the lips of a Komodo dragon.
Owning lips that cover the teeth will make the T-rex a bit less aggressive, but they are still basically fearsome predatory dinosaurs.
In fact, most of the depictions and reconstructions of dinosaurs come from their skeletal fossils, so it is difficult to get a clear answer about the arrangement of the tissues. soft as muscle and skin. Therefore, it will not be too surprising if future studies will “redraw” the entire appearance of extinct animals.
