Figure of a T-Rex dinosaur (AFP)
The image imagined by the movie “Jurassic Park” and most of the toy industry companies regarding the “T-Rex” dinosaurs may be wrong, as their fangs were not as prominent as was thought, but rather they most likely had lips that covered them, according to a recent study. .
Thomas Cullen, one of the study’s authors, revealed that “animals such as T-Rex, which are legless dinosaurs, likely had some kind of soft-tissue lips covering their mouths to protect their teeth.”
A professor of paleontology at Auburn University, Alabama, in the south of the United States, added that the results of the new study carry “a change from many previously circulated hypotheses, which were very similar to (these dinosaurs) crocodiles, with visible teeth when their jaws were closed and without lips.” “.
Although the issue was not completely definitive, the researchers studied a group of dinosaurs and theropods (theropods) from several museums to reach this new conclusion.
Tooth enamel comparison
For example, the researchers compared tooth enamel erosion in dinosaurs and crocodiles, the living relatives of theropods.
Tooth enamel “must stay moist to stay healthy,” Colin said.
Figure of a T-Rex dinosaur (AFP)
According to paleobiology, the enamel of the outer portion of living crocodile teeth wears off faster than the inner portion because they do not have lips.
“When we looked at the thickness of the enamel on the inside and outside of the teeth of large dinosaurs, they didn’t appear to have this kind of formation like crocodilians,” he added.
While Thomas Cullen indicated that these dinosaurs “show a model closer to animals with lips,” pointing out that “the thickness of the tooth enamel is the same on the outer and inner sides.”
Too big teeth?
In addition, the researchers also wanted to know whether the teeth of the “T-Rex” dinosaurs might have been too large for their mouths, and to compare them to many modern lizards with lips.
“Some of the monitor lizards today have very large teeth,” Colin said. “It seems almost unbelievable that these teeth might be completely covered by the lips, but it is.”
Skeleton of a T-Rex dinosaur (Archyde.com)
He added, “And we discovered that (…) this scale ratio is almost identical for dinosaurs and theropods.”
But what are the consequences of this discovery for the way these animals are depicted in works of popular culture?
While Thomas Cullen acknowledges that the “Jurassic Park” films succeeded in “providing information commensurate with what was known at the time” regarding dinosaurs, attempts to depict dinosaurs and theropods “completely deviated” from the right track since then, according to the paleontologist.