The T. rex you know and love...


... may have looked more like this, according to a recently published research article in Science.

quote Theropod dinosaurs such as the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex have long been portrayed with their teeth fully visible, similar to extant crocodilians. This pattern of portrayal largely had to do with relatedness between dinosaurs and crocodilians and the relationship between tooth and jaw size. Cullen et al. tested hypothesized facial reconstruction in this group using histological analysis of tooth wear patterns and quantitative relationships between skull length and tooth size in both extinct and extant reptiles. Contrary to depictions that have dominated for more than a century, they found that theropods, including T. rex, had lips that covered their teeth, leaving them looking more like modern Komodo dragons than crocodiles.

"Theropod dinosaur facial reconstruction and the importance of soft tissues in paleobiology"
Thomas M Cullen, et al.; Science; March 30, 2023.
https://www.science.org/doi...1126/science.abo7877

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 04-01-2023).]

I really enjoyed Dinosaurs (The TV show)....The best episode is "Nature Calls" where Earl tries to potty train the baby ("Gotta love me!")...Roy (Pictured above) passes out when Earl removes the diaper....and then the baby "Squirts" Earl....I was rolling on the floor laughing at that scene.

One of my favorite movies from when I was young (6-9 in '66-'69) was "The Land Unknown".....It was supposed to be a big production but at the last moment a management change at the studio led to budget cuts, so the T-rex looks absolutely horrible. The cast is good, the story is well written, and the mat paintings, helicopter scenes and most of the other "Dino" scenes are well done, but old T-rex.....The budget cut occurred right when they were working on him...

The scene I remembered most was a guy being chased by "T"- he trips over a root, rolls back against the root and then "T" walks past/over him....

I took a pic from the movie and modified Rex to look a bit more realistic;

[This message has been edited by cvxjet (edited 04-03-2023).]