Some paleontologists note that tyrannosaur forelimbs and claws could have been used to strike out at and slash at prey during close encounters, or they could have played a part in social displays or as pelvic claspers that males used during mating. rex and some other large tyrannosaurs could have lifted about 180 kg (400 pounds), the hands would not have been able to reach the mouth or grasp prey. Although a mechanical reconstruction suggests that the musculature of the arms of T. In contrast to the powerful jaws and legs, the forelimbs of tyrannosaurs were very small (less than the length of the shoulder blade), and in some forms the hands were reduced to only two digits. rex, have been interpreted by some scientists as evidence of cannibalism. Bite marks found on the bones of other tyrannosaurs, especially T. Gut contents and coprolites (fossilized feces) of tyrannosaurs, as well as remains of other dinosaurs preserved with tyrannosaurid bite marks, show that tyrannosaurs were voracious predators that could easily bite through skulls, pelvises, and limbs of other dinosaurs. In mature individuals, however, the teeth fall neatly into three general classes: upper front teeth, upper side teeth, and lower jaw teeth. In juveniles the teeth are laterally compressed and serrated front and back, like those of other theropods. The side teeth are large, and in adults they become even larger, fewer in number, and D-shaped in cross section rather than daggerlike as in most theropods, or flesh-eating dinosaurs. Serrations of the teeth bear deep pocketlike recesses in which bacteria may have flourished to provide an infectious bite. The crowns of the teeth were shed and regrown frequently (every 250 days or so, on the basis of microscopic lines visible within the teeth). The huge mouth contained some 60 teeth, which could protrude as far as 15 cm (6 inches). rex would easily have been capable of ripping through a car roof, as portrayed in the 1993 motion picture Jurassic Park. Engineering models, in fact, show that the bite force of T. The skull bones of large tyrannosaurs are often several centimetres thick and are strongly braced to each other, which suggests a resistance to the forces of biting, both inflicted upon and received from other tyrannosaurs. The longest known tyrannosaur skull is 1.3 metres (more than 4 feet) long.
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