Alberta-based researcher unveils new information about Tyrannosaurs
Posted Jun 27, 2021 8:00 am.
Last Updated Jun 27, 2021 9:46 am.
DRUMHELLER – Tyrannosaurs are well-known as having been ferocious predators at the top of the food chain millions of years ago, but a study led by an Alberta-based researcher shows the dinos didn’t start out that way.
François Therrien from the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller says the study focused on Tyrannosaur teeth and their dramatic change as they matured.
Therrien says the museum has many fossils of different ages, so researchers were able to see a distinct change in tooth size as the dinosaurs aged.
“We saw in very young individuals—less than 11 years of age—these animals had very blade-like teeth, similar to Komodo dragons and other meat-eating dinosaurs,” Therrien said.
“That is telling us that these teeth were designed for just slicing through flesh.”
Once Tyrannosaurs turned 11, Therrien says they went through a growth spurt in which their teeth became larger and wider. By the time the dinos were fully grown, their bite force was eight times more than that of an alligator.
He says his study also shows that young Tyrannosaurs were distinct predators that occupied different ecological niches.
“Young Tyrannosaurs were not just scaled-down versions of their mature parents, they were creatures that had their own lifestyle,” Therrien said.
“They did things that were unlike other Tyrannosaurs.”
For the study, published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, the researchers examined the lower jaws from types of Tyrannosaurs commonly found in Canada that predated the T. Rex by millions of years.
–with files from The Canadian Press
