Predatory dinosaurs such as T. rex sported lizard-like lips, suggests study

[Still Waters]

A new study suggests that predatory dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, did not have permanently exposed teeth as depicted in films such as Jurassic Park, but instead had scaly, lizard-like lips covering and sealing their mouths.

Researchers and artists have debated whether theropod dinosaurs, the group of two-legged dinosaurs that includes carnivores and top predators like T. rex and Velociraptor, as well as birds, had lipless mouths where perpetually visible upper teeth hung over their lower jaws, similar to the mouth of a crocodile.

However, an international team of researchers challenge some of the best-known depictions, and say these dinosaurs had lips similar to those of lizards and their relative, the tuatara—a rare reptile found only in New Zealand, which are the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs.

https://phys.org/news/2023-03-predatory-dinosaurs-rex-sported-lizard-like.html

Study:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7877

[Gumball]

This is one of those "two camps" arguments that would make a really nerdy pub brawl.

Edited April 1 by Gumball

[esoteric_toad]

Now I want to see a lippy t-rex

[Nicolette]