The stereotype of these carnivorous dinosaurs is not true
New research shows that prehistoric tyrannosaurs had teeth covered by lips. So, contrary to the description in films like Jurassic Park, scientists now believe that carnivorous dinosaurs were not “toothy, lipless creatures.”
< span class="article__picture-author" itemprop="author">Photo: Global Look Press
While T-Rex is often depicted prowling the landscape with a toothy grin, its intimidating teeth may were actually hidden behind a pair of thin, scaly lips, research suggests.
Experts say that the notion that carnivorous dinosaurs were lipless arose because of the enormous size of their teeth, and also because they had the closest living toothy relatives — such as crocodiles and alligators — have no lips, writes The Guardian.
However, a new study suggests that, like modern lizards, theropods may have had their teeth covered when their mouths were closed.
Dr Mark Whitton of the University of Portsmouth and co-author of the study argues that popular depictions of dinosaurs outdated.
“Basically, we are still living in the shadow of Jurassic Park from 30 years ago,” says the scientist. “We need to move away from this toothy, lipless image of creatures like Tyrannosaurus Rex and move on to these animals with more lizard-like faces.”
Researchers from the US and UK write in the journal Science that the study of the large tooth , which spent more than 500 days in the mouth of Daspletosaurus Tyrannosaurus, showed no signs of significant wear — the find is consistent with studies of the teeth of other theropods.
In contrast, the large teeth of American alligators are often damaged, even with a layer of dentin worn away — the researchers suggest that this is the result of the fact that these animals are devoid of lips, which means that their tooth enamel is exposed, which makes it dry and less resistant to wear. .
Whitton said that tyrannosaur teeth often lasted more than 12 months before they were replaced — much longer than crocodilian teeth — lending weight to the idea that prehistoric reptiles had lips.
“No animal can repair or replace worn enamel, and yet the thin enamel of tyrannosaurs remains intact, even though some retained their teeth for more than a year,” said Dr. Whitton.
According to the study, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the fossil shows a mammalian foot in the thorax of a microraptor.
The team also found tiny openings in theropod jaws similar to those of modern lizards, where they supply the lips and gums with nerves and blood vessels, while both have upright teeth, unlike crocodilians, whose teeth protrude outwards.
The team said that today's analysis of the relative sizes of skull and teeth in lizards showed that theropod teeth were not too big to be closed lips.
“If you just imagine a Komodo dragon to scale with a skull 5 feet long, it wouldn't look much different from something like a Tyrannosaurus Rex,” Whitton said.
Professor Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the work, notes that, if the researchers are right, then the tyrannosaurus rex would not have had a toothy grin, but rather a gummy smile, adding that the soft tissues covering their teeth would not have been the same shape as our own fleshy and plump lips.
However, Brusatte believes that the case is not yet closed. “I suspect these researchers are right and that tyrannosaurs had more soft tissue covering their teeth than crocodiles, but I still doubt if they had as much material covering their teeth as monitor lizards.” he said.