Scientists now say T-Rex had big lips that covered its teeth
· Apr 1, 2023 · NottheBee.com

This is personally a little devastating to me. What right do they have to disrupt my mental image of one of the fiercest large animals ever to terrorize the earth?

Anyway ... according to a new study, the mighty T-Rex had giant lips covering its giant teeth, so it would not have had that gnarly toothy grin we all think of, thanks to Jurassic Park, when we think of a T-Rex.

The mighty Tyrannosaurus rex had humongous lips that covered its sharp, jagged teeth, a new dinosaur study reveals. According to an international team, the depictions of the T. rex in films like "Jurassic Park" that make it look extremely fierce are actually wrong.

The study finds predatory dinosaurs had scaly, lizard-like lips that would have kept its mouth shut most of the time. The team examined the tooth structure, wear patterns, and jaw shapes of lipped and lipless reptile groups during their project. They found mouth anatomy and function of meat-eating theropods, a dinosaur group which includes T. rex, resembled lizards more than crocodiles.

If this is true, its head would have resembled a Komodo Dragon's more than a crocodile's.

From the study:

In the most detailed study of this issue yet, the researchers examined the tooth structure, wear patterns and jaw morphology of lipped and lipless reptile groups and found that theropod mouth anatomy and functionality resembles that of lizards more than crocodiles. This implies lizard-like oral tissues, including scaly lips covering their teeth.

Study co-author Derek Larson, Collections Manager and Researcher in Palaeontology at the Royal BC Museum in Canada, said:

"It's quite remarkable how similar theropod teeth are to monitor lizards. From the smallest dwarf monitor to the Komodo dragon, the teeth function in much the same way."

On second thought, if you know anything about Komodo Dragons, you know they are heartless murder machines ... so actually, this doesn't make the T-Rex any less terrifying to me, now that I think about it.


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