According to research, despite the common depiction of the Tyrannosaurus rex roaming around with a menacing smile, its formidable teeth could have been hidden behind a set of delicate, scaly lips.
The notion that theropods lacked lips is thought to have originated from their massive teeth and the fact that their closest living toothed relatives, such as alligators and crocodiles, do not possess lips, as per the experts.
According to the research, theropods might have covered their teeth when their mouths were shut, similar to modern day lizards.
Dr. Mark Witton, a co-author of the study from the University of Portsmouth, stated that the current portrayals of dinosaurs in popular culture are obsolete.
“We are basically still living in the shadow of Jurassic Park from 30 years ago”
“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 said
In an article published in the journal Science, a team of researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom reported that their investigation of a large tooth that had resided in the mouth of the Daspletosaurus for over 500 days yielded no indications of significant wear, aligning with previous studies of theropod teeth.
On the other hand, the researchers propose that the teeth of American alligators, which lack lips, are frequently harmed, with the dentine layer even being worn down. This is due to the tooth enamel being uncovered, resulting in it becoming dry and losing its resistance to wear.
Witton stated that tyrannosaur teeth frequently endured over 12 months before being substituted, which is significantly longer than for crocodiles. This observation reinforces the concept that the Tyrannosaurus rex had lips.
Additionally, the researchers discovered small perforations in the jaws of theropods arranged in a comparable fashion to those found in present day lizards. These perforations provide nerves and blood vessels to the lips and gums.
Furthermore, unlike crocodiles, both theropods and lizards have vertical teeth rather than teeth that angle outward.
“No animals can repair or replace worn enamel, and yet the thin enamel of tyrannosaurs remains intact even though some retained their teeth well over a year,”
“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,”
said Witton.
The researchers concluded that an evaluation of the skull and teeth proportions in present-day lizards indicated that theropod teeth were not too big to have been concealed by lips.
Professor Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the study, remarked that if the researchers’ findings were accurate, the Tyrannosaurus rex would not have displayed a toothy grin, but rather a gummy smile.
Additionally, he noted that the tissue covering the dinosaur’s teeth would not have been similar to our own fleshy and puckered lips.
