Posted on 04/06/2023 5:38:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
* The Tyrannosaurus might have had lips, a new study suggests
* Researchers compared skulls and studied teeth for the study
* Some scientists aren't convinced about this theory
FILE – Stan, one of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil discovered, is on display, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, at Christie’s in New York. The teeth on T. rex and other big theropods were likely covered by scaly lips, concludes a study published Thursday, March 30, 2023, in the journal Science. The dinosaur’s teeth didn’t stick out when its mouth was closed, and even in a wide open bite, you might just see the tips, the scientists found. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
(NewsNation) — When you think of a Tyrannosaurus rex, you likely imagine its sharp, giant teeth jutting outside its mouth.
But a new study suggests this picture might not be accurate. Instead, some researchers say the T. rex’s teeth may have been covered by scaly lips.
Authors of the study said the T. rex is usually portrayed with its teeth fully visible because it is being compared to modern crocodiles.
Depictions showing teeth jutting out of dinosaurs’ jaws when closed stem from the idea that the predators’ teeth were too big for their mouths, said study author Thomas Cullen, a paleontologist at Auburn University in Alabama.
Researchers who compared skulls from dinosaurs and living reptiles found a different result. Cullen said some large monitor lizards actually have bigger teeth than the T. rex — though they can still fit them under their own lips.
Scientists also studied wear and tear on tooth surfaces. The Washington Post reports the research team found a T. rex tooth near the Milk River in Alberta,Canada, put it in resin, and sliced it open with a diamond-studded saw to see how it wore down over the dinosaur’s life.
Enamel had worn down evenly on both sides of the tooth — a pattern much different from what is seen on crocodiles. Because enamel is more durable when it stays wet, this led scientists to believe dinosaurs had lips to keep their teeth from wearing down.
Some critics are pushing back on the new theory.
“I don’t find (the new study) persuasive,” Thomas Carr, a vertebrate paleontologist at Carthage College, told Science. Carr and his colleagues wrote their own study that showed that theropods like the T.Rex had highly textured face bones, suggesting that the dinosaur snouts were covered with flat scales and no extra soft tissue, rendering them lipless.
“I think the day will arrive where somebody will find a fossil mummy of a Tyrannosaur,” Carr said in Science. “But in the meantime, we won’t truly know.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SCIENCE NEWS
Read something a few years ago about the design of museums in the 1950’s/1960’s, predicated on an erect T-Rex, were built with very high ceilings.
Then, the thinking evolved to their bodies being much closer to the ground, after which museum designs included lower ceilings.
Not sure about the truth of this, but thought it was interesting...
Tu lips
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YEP.
Somehow I just knew that would show up!
I must be psychic!........ 😏
“were likely covered by scaly lips”
I remember some dates with those while I was in college.
Lipstick would cost a fortune!....... 🤔
That was herpes..............
Reminds me of that old question, “Do chickens have lips?”
Maybe dinosaurs WERE birds, after all.
How else would it blow kisses ,LOL
Some scientists aren’t convinced about this theory
Funny how you never see that line in global warming stories…
Bang a gong!
You won’t fool The Children of the Revolution!
They might had lips, but I’ll bet they couldn’t whistle dixie
So it COULD talk. I knew it! How about its tongue? Could it flex its tongue to make vowel sounds?
Yes, the feminization of T-Rex. It (favorite pronoun) now has feathers, lips, limp wrists, and clucks like a chicken. It no longer viciously kills its prey, but eats artificial meat grown in swamps. Most importantly, it votes democrat.
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