Mighty bite confirms dinosaur’s scary reputation – new study

THE bone-crunching bite of Tyrannosaurus rex was like no other, according to a new study that solidifies the fabled carnivore’s reputation as the most fearsome of dinosaurs.

T rex could not only crack the biggest of bones, it could also pulverise and ingest them, absorbing marrow and minerals beyond the reach of less well-endowed competitors, the study, released yesterday, says.

“The combination of impressive bite force and stout teeth set T rex apart,” lead author Paul Gignac, an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, said.

“It scored, deeply punctured and even sliced through bones.”

Gignac and Gregory Erickson, from the Florida State University, built on earlier attempts to measure T rex’s bite force by adding comparisons with predators roaming the wild today.

Wolves and hyenas, for example, are also able to crush bones with their teeth, accessing nutritious marrow. Their secret?

So-called occluding teeth that fit together perfectly, top-andbottom, a feature common in carnivorous mammals.

T rex lacked such dental gear, raising the question of how it managed to shatter bones the size of small tree trunks.

The study found that T rex’s jaw exerted a crushing 3.6 tons of force, equivalent to the weight of three mid-sized cars.

Even more impressive, the dinosaur’s tooth pressure was 30 tons per square centimetre of dental surface. – AFP