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

["T. Mike Keesey" <tmk@dinosauricon.com>]

On Wed, 18 Jul 2001 Dinogeorge@aol.com wrote:

> 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.

OOC, why would scraping meat off bones only be of use to a scavenger?

On a similar topic, can anyone sum up why all the "aublysodontines" are
now considered juvenile tyrannosaurins? Does anyone still debate this?
Someone's been asking me and I can't give a solid answer.

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T. MICHAEL KEESEY
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