The iconic T. rex and raptor may have looked a little less sinister.
A paper 害羞草研究所� co-authored by Derek Larson, a member of Victoria害羞草研究所檚 Royal B.C. Museum害羞草研究所檚 paleontology department, and a team of international paleontologists 害羞草研究所� proposed the dinosaurs may not have been the ferocious-looking, teeth-baring creatures we think they were.
Results from their work suggest theropods, like the Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptor, may not have had exposed teeth when their mouths were closed but instead had a fleshy covering 害羞草研究所� similar to lips and not unlike those of modern-day lizards.
害羞草研究所淔or a long time, researchers have suggested that theropod dinosaurs had exposed teeth 害羞草研究所� like we see with crocodiles 害羞草研究所� and this has become the pervasive depiction of predatory dinosaurs in films and documentaries,害羞草研究所� said Larson, paleontolgy collections manager and researcher at RBCM, in a statement. 害羞草研究所淥ur study overturns that idea and seriously brings into question how we reconstruct what certain dinosaurs look like.害羞草研究所�
Larson, with his co-authors, looked to modern examples of lip and tooth structures and from examples like the Komodo dragon, researchers determined the exposed teeth of crocodiles are unique to that group. Covered teeth are more typical and researchers determined more probable in extinct animals.
Auburn University害羞草研究所檚 Thomas Cullen, the lead author of the study, said in the same statement, 害羞草研究所渆ven the giant teeth of tyrannosaurs are proportionately similar in size to those of living predatory lizards, rejecting the idea that their teeth were too big to cover with lips.害羞草研究所�
While not indicated in the paper, the researchers acknowledged the fleshy tooth coverings they presume would not be akin to the muscular, mobile lips humans have. They also noted while other extinct animals, like various tusked mammals or flying or marine reptiles, almost certainly had exposed teeth 害羞草研究所� they do not believe the T. rex and other predatory dinosaurs did.
害羞草研究所淎ccurately reconstructing an extinct animal has huge implications for inferring the behaviour, diet, and evolution of these organisms,害羞草研究所� Larson noted.
Given dinosaurs害羞草研究所� closest modern genetic relatives 害羞草研究所� crocodiles and birds 害羞草研究所� are also lipless, Larson said it害羞草研究所檚 not surprising these depictions have become prevalent. 害羞草研究所淧aleontologists often like to compare extinct animals to their closest living relatives, but in the case of dinosaurs, their closest relatives have been evolutionarily distinct for hundreds of millions of years and today are incredibly specialized. Many of the similarities that they once shared with dinosaurs are long gone.害羞草研究所�
One specimen examined in the study was the Field Museum of National History T. rex nicknamed Sue. Sue害羞草研究所檚 jaws and teeth will be on display at RBCM starting June 16.
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