Re: Horner on NBC Nightly News (T. rex hunting evidence)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/18/01 11:31:05 AM EST, vita0015@umn.edu writes:

<< Furthermore, tyrannosaurid incisors have a distinct D-shaped cross section
 that is unique among theropods. >>

Some time ago, when I was studying Stygivenator (now = juvenile
Tyrannosaurus), I decided that it and other "aublysodontids" could have been
specially adapted scavengers because their premaxillary teeth are thickest
and strongest precisely along the sagittal axis of the skull (D-shaped
cross-section). This suggested to me that the premaxillary teeth might have
been useful in scraping meat off bones as Stygivenator pulled its head
directly backward while feeding. This hypothesis would be supported by the
discovery of parallel scrape marks of the right size and separation on
isolated fossil bones. Of course, it is always possible that such scrape
marks would be generated by other feeding styles, and that premaxillary teeth
with D-shaped cross-sections had other uses (e.g., in non-aublysodontine
tyrannosaurids), so, as is usual in this game, this idea never really left
the realm of idle speculation.