Re: T rex carinae

[jrhutch@socrates.berkeley.edu (John R. Hutchinson)]

>Many thanks to those who reponded to my question about carinae on T. rex
>teeth. I also recall reading a paper a few years back--I think in the SVP
>journal--on bifurcated serration carinae in tyrannosaurid teeth (carinae
>that formed sort of an upside down "Y" on the tooth.)  As I recall, a
>significant percent of the tyrannosaurid teeth studied by the author
>exhibited that characteristic.
>
>It would be interesting to know what was going on with tyrannosaurid
>carinae.  If the location of carinae varied along the vertical axis of
>tyrannosaurid teeth and they were regularly doing other odd things like
>bifurcating, is it possible that carinae were simply subject to less
>selection pressure in tyrannosaurids than in smaller theropods with more
>blade-like teeth?  It seems that serrations would be more useful on a
>weapon shaped like a knife than one shaped like a large railroad spike.

The paper in question is:
Erickson, G.M. 1995. Split carinae on tyrannosaurid teeth and implications
of their development. JVP 15(2):268-274.

IMHO, an excellent paper. Also, check out a very different paper:
Abler, W.L. 1992. The serrated teeth of tyrannosaurid dinosaurs, and biting
structures in other animals. Paleobiology 18(2): 161-183.

                       --John R. Hutchinson