T. Rex Had an A.C. Head
Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs on the planet, had an air conditioner in its head, suggest scientists from the University of Missouri, Ohio University and University of Florida, while challenging over a century of previous beliefs.
In the past, scientists believed two large holes in the roof of a T. rex’s skull — called the dorsotemporal fenestra — were filled with muscles that assist with jaw movements.A graphic thermal image of a T. rex with its dorsotemporal fenestra glowing on the skull.
Illustration courtesy of Brian Engh.
But that assertion puzzled Casey Holliday, a professor of anatomy in the MU School of Medicine and lead researcher on the study.
“It’s really weird for a muscle to come up from the jaw, make a 90-degree turn, and go along the roof of the skull,” Holliday said. “Yet, we now have a lot of compelling evidence for blood vessels in this area, based on our work with alligators and other reptiles.”
Using thermal imaging — devices that translate heat into visible light — researchers examined alligators at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida. They believe their evidence offers a new theory and insight into the anatomy of a T. rex’s head.
Illustration courtesy of Brian Engh.
Holliday and his team took their thermal imaging data and examined fossilized remains of dinosaurs and crocodiles to see how this hole in the skull changed over time.
Thermal imaging — devices that translate heat into visible light — allowed researchers to capture the body heat of alligators at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida.
The study, “The Frontoparietal Fossa and Dorsotemporal Fenestra of Archosaurs and Their Significance for Interpretations of Vascular and Muscular Anatomy in Dinosaurs,” was published in The Anatomical Record. Other authors on the study include Ruger Porter at Ohio University. Funding was provided by grants from The Jurassic Foundation, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Richard Estes Memorial Grant, Ohio University Student Enhancement Award, Ohio University Graduate Student Senate, Ohio University Departments of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grant, Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grant, National Science Foundation (IBN 0407735, IOS 1457319, EAR 163753, IBN 9601174, IOB 0343744, IOB 0517257, IOS 1050154, IOS 1456503) and the University of Missouri Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.24218
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