T.Rex did NOT have permanently exposed teeth – and instead had scaly, lizard-like LIPS, study finds
They’re usually depicted baring their razor-sharp teeth as they chase down unfortunate prey.
But the T-Rex may not have looked so alarming in real-life, according to new research.
Scientists have discovered the dinosaurs would have had scaly, lizard-like lips covering and sealing their mouths.
And while this would still have been a terrifying sight, it indicates they have been wrongly portrayed in films such as Jurassic Park, the study suggests.
Theropod dinosaurs, a group of two-legged dinosaurs which includes the velociraptor as well as birds, were previously thought to have lipless mouths where visible upper teeth hung over their lower jaws, similar to the mouth of a crocodile.
Scientists have discovered T.Rex would have had scaly, lizard-like lips covering and sealing their mouths
They’re usually depicted baring their razor-sharp teeth as they chase down unfortunate prey. But the T-Rex may not have looked so alarming in real-life, according to new research
But an international team of researchers now believe these dinosaurs had lips similar to those of lizards and their relative the tuatara – a rare reptile found only in New Zealand.
The scientists 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.
They said this implies lizard-like oral tissues, including scaly lips covering the teeth.
The researchers said these lips were probably not muscular, like they are in mammals, as most reptile lips cover their teeth but cannot be moved independently or curled back into a snarl.
Co-author Dr Mark Witton, from the University of Portsmouth, said: ‘Dinosaur artists have gone back and forth on lips since we started restoring dinosaurs during the 19th century, but lipless dinosaurs became more prominent in the 1980s and 1990s.
‘They were then deeply rooted in popular culture through films and documentaries — Jurassic Park and its sequels, Walking With Dinosaurs, and so on.
‘Curiously, there was never a dedicated study or discovery instigating this change and, to a large extent, it probably reflected preference for a new, ferocious-looking aesthetic rather than a shift in scientific thinking.
‘We’re upending this popular depiction by covering their teeth with lizard-like lips.
The researchers said the lips were probably not muscular, like they are in mammals, as most reptile lips cover their teeth but cannot be moved independently or curled back into a snarl
A half-grown Tyrannosaurus, sporting a full set of lips, runs down Struthiomimus, a beaked ostrich dinosaur
‘This means a lot of our favourite dinosaur depictions are incorrect, including the iconic Jurassic Park T rex.’
The results, published in the journal Science, found that dinosaur teeth were no larger, relative to skull size, than those of modern lizards, suggesting they were not too big to be covered with lips.
Thomas Cullen, Assistant Professor of Paleobiology at Auburn University and study lead author, said: ‘Although it’s been argued in the past that the teeth of predatory dinosaurs might be too big to be covered by lips, our study shows that, in actuality, their teeth were not atypically large.
‘Even the giant teeth of tyrannosaurs are proportionally similar in size to those of living predatory lizards when compared for skull size, rejecting the idea that their teeth were too big to cover with lips.’
The researchers point out that their study doesn’t claim that no extinct animals had exposed teeth.
Some, like sabre-toothed carnivorous mammals, or marine reptiles and flying reptiles with extremely long, interlocking teeth, almost certainly did.