The
battle between a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops must have been an
amazing sight to behold, but the aftermath may have been incredible to
see in its own right. A new investigation suggests that following his
victory, T. rex would tear the head off to start eating!
Following analysis of bite marks on Triceratops skulls, Denver Fowler (Museum of the Rockies, Montana) and his team noticed a
couple
of peculiarities. There were no signs of healing around any of the bite
marks, suggesting they had occurred after the animal's death. Secondly,
puncture wounds and deep parallel grooves on the frill seemed to make
no sense - the frill would have been predominantly bone and keratin,
which are not a major source of nutrients. They came to the conclusion
that these marks were caused by re-positioning of the carcass. This idea
was strengthened by bite marks on the head-neck ball-and-socket joint,
something that could not happen with the head and frill still in place.
They've suggested four steps in a typical T. rex meal. First, the T.
rex would get a strong grip on the frill, ready for ripping the head
clean off (Step 2, seen left). The next move would be to delicately pick
at the facial tissues, before moving on to the feast of nutrient-rich
neck muscles. Fowler and his team have suggested the feeding behaviour
of a T. rex may have changed as it reached adulthood, as the teeth of a
young T. rex could not endure the same stress as those of an older T.
rex. Fowler hopes to have more answers when he and his team publish
their final paper.
Image credit: Nate Carroll.
http://www.nature.com/news/
http://www.livescience.com/
The
battle between a Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops must have been an
amazing sight to behold, but the aftermath may have been incredible to
see in its own right. A new investigation suggests that following his
victory, T. rex would tear the head off to start eating!
Following analysis of bite marks on Triceratops skulls, Denver Fowler (Museum of the Rockies, Montana) and his team noticed a
Following analysis of bite marks on Triceratops skulls, Denver Fowler (Museum of the Rockies, Montana) and his team noticed a
couple
of peculiarities. There were no signs of healing around any of the bite
marks, suggesting they had occurred after the animal's death. Secondly,
puncture wounds and deep parallel grooves on the frill seemed to make
no sense - the frill would have been predominantly bone and keratin,
which are not a major source of nutrients. They came to the conclusion
that these marks were caused by re-positioning of the carcass. This idea
was strengthened by bite marks on the head-neck ball-and-socket joint,
something that could not happen with the head and frill still in place.
They've suggested four steps in a typical T. rex meal. First, the T. rex would get a strong grip on the frill, ready for ripping the head clean off (Step 2, seen left). The next move would be to delicately pick at the facial tissues, before moving on to the feast of nutrient-rich neck muscles. Fowler and his team have suggested the feeding behaviour of a T. rex may have changed as it reached adulthood, as the teeth of a young T. rex could not endure the same stress as those of an older T. rex. Fowler hopes to have more answers when he and his team publish their final paper.
Image credit: Nate Carroll.
http://www.nature.com/news/
http://www.livescience.com/
They've suggested four steps in a typical T. rex meal. First, the T. rex would get a strong grip on the frill, ready for ripping the head clean off (Step 2, seen left). The next move would be to delicately pick at the facial tissues, before moving on to the feast of nutrient-rich neck muscles. Fowler and his team have suggested the feeding behaviour of a T. rex may have changed as it reached adulthood, as the teeth of a young T. rex could not endure the same stress as those of an older T. rex. Fowler hopes to have more answers when he and his team publish their final paper.
Image credit: Nate Carroll.
http://www.nature.com/news/
http://www.livescience.com/
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