April 6, 2023
We need to move away from this toothy lipless look for things like Tyrannosaurus and towards these animals having more lizard-like faces.
Dr. Mark Witton at the University of Portsmouth in England and co-author of a new study which suggests the T. Rex may have looked different than its popular depictions.
What To Know: The study suggests that the dinosaurs likely had “thin, scaly lips” rather than “a toothy grin,” The Guardian explains. Witton put it like this: “If you just imagine the Komodo dragon scaled up with a 5ft-long skull, it is not going to look much different from something like a T rex.”
A fun excerpt from The AP: "With this evidence and other clues from the dinosaurs’ anatomy, the study makes a good case for lipped tyrannosaurs, said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, who was not involved with the study. Still, 'we’re not talking kissy lips,' he pointed out — they’d be thin and scaly like those of the Komodo dragon, a large lizard."
Scientists say your idea of how the T. rex looked is probably wrong (The Washington Post)
Has T. rex lost its bite? Menacing snarl may be wrong (The Associated Press)
by Jenna Lee,
