The image imagined by Jurassic Park and most toy makers of T-rex dinosaurs may be wrong, as their fangs were probably not as prominent as thought, but likely had lips covering them, a recent study showed.
Thomas Colin, one of the study’s authors, revealed that “animals like T-rex, which are dinosaurs with feet, most likely have some kind of lips and soft tissues covering their mouths to protect their teeth.”
The professor of paleobiology at Auburn University in the southern US state of Alabama said the results of the new study carry “a change from many previously circulating hypotheses, which were very similar to crocodiles, with visible teeth when their jaws are closed and without lips.”
Although the matter is not fully certain, the researchers studied a group of theropoda dinosaurs from several museums to reach this new conclusion.
Comparison of tooth enamel
For example, the researchers compared the erosion of tooth enamel in dinosaurs and crocodiles, live animals closest to the savage of the legs.
Tooth enamel “must stay hydrated to stay healthy,” Colin said, adding: “If exposed to air for too long, it becomes crumbly and is more likely to crack or get sick.”
According to paleobiology, the enamel of the outer part of the teeth of living crocodiles wears out faster than the inner part because it does not have lips.
“When we looked at the thickness of the enamel inside and outside the teeth of large dinosaurs, they didn’t appear to have that kind of formation like crocodiles.”
Thomas Colin pointed out 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 large teeth?
The researchers also wanted to see if T-Rex dinosaurs’ teeth could be too large on their mouths, comparing them to many modern lizards with lips.
“Some lizards today have very large teeth,” Colin said, and “it seems almost unbelievable that these teeth can be completely covered with lips, but it is so.”
