Tyrannosaurus rex (T.Rex) was only able to crunch the bone of its unfortunate prey thanks to its stiff lower jaws, a new study shows.
Perhaps the most fearsome of all the dinosaurs, T.Rex chomped through bone by keeping a joint in their lower jaw steady like an alligator, it reveals.
Scientists had previously assumed T.Rex had a flexible jaw like a snake to keep struggling prey in their jaws, but the new analysis shows the lower jaw was kept level and sturdy.
The experts used computed tomography (CT) scans of dinosaur fossils and modern reptiles to build a detailed 3D model of the T.Rex jaw.
By Wendy Corr, Cowboy State Daily
Tyrannosaurus Rex. Just the name conjures up images of toothy monsters stalking prey, the lone wolves of the prehistoric plains.
But that may be the wrong picture of the carnivore that once roamed Wyoming. In fact, the dinosaur first discovered in the Cowboy State may have been more of a social animal.
And that comes as no surprise to a renowned Wyoming dinosaur expert.
“The big meat eaters – and tyrannosaurs in particular – seem to have shown evidence of what we call ‘gregarious’ behavior,” said Andrew Rossi, who worked for almost eight years at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis.
Tyrannosaurs may have hunted in packs like wolves, a new study says Apr 25, 2021, 10:58 AM
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A tyrannosaur s skull found two miles north of the “Rainbows and Unicorns Quarry” on February 26, 2019.
BLM photo courtesy of Dr. Alan Titus
New evidence suggests that Tyrannosaurus Rex hunted as a pack animal.
The T. Rex remains were found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.
Scientists had previously thought that the T. Rex brain was too small for this kind of complex behaviour.
Tyrannosaurs were probably social animals who hunted in packs, according to research from the University of Arkansas published this week.
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