(Washington) What if Jurassic Park And most game makers showing fanged tyrannosaurs were wrong? A study published Thursday shows that these famous dinosaurs likely had lips that covered their teeth.
“Animals like T-Rex, the theropod dinosaur, likely had some type of soft-tissue lip covering their mouths to protect their teeth,” Thomas Cullen, one of the study’s authors, told AFP.
“This is a change from many hypotheses until now, in which they looked like crocodiles, with teeth showing when their mouth was closed and no lips,” adds this university paleobiology professor. From Auburn, Alabama, in the southern United States.
If the question isn’t completely settled, the researchers studied a group of theropod dinosaurs from several museums to come to this new conclusion.
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For example, they compared the erosion of the enamel of the teeth of dinosaurs and crocodiles, the living animals closest to these theropods.
Tooth enamel “needs to stay hydrated to stay healthy,” says Cullen. “If exposed to air for a long time, they become crumbly and are more likely to crack or disease.”
According to paleobiology, the enamel of the outer part of the teeth of living crocodiles wears out faster than the inner part 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 show this kind of formation like a crocodile,” he continues.
“They provide a model akin to animals with lips,” notes Thomas Cullen. “The thickness of their enamel is the same on both the outer and inner sides.”
Too big teeth?
The researchers also wanted to know if the T-Rex’s teeth were 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,” Cullen said. “It seems almost unbelievable that these teeth could be completely covered by the lips and yet they are.”
“And we found out […] This scale ratio is nearly identical to that of theropod dinosaurs.”
What are the consequences of the representation of these famous predators in popular culture?
Si Thomas Cullen reconnaît que les films “Jurassic Park” ont réussi “a coller à ce qui était connu” sur les dinosaures “à l’époque”, les tentatives for représenter les theropodes de façon “fidèle” ont complètement “déraille depuis”, According to him.
