T-rex lips--was Re: theropod tongues

[brucet@mindspring.com (bruce thompson)]

>In a message dated 97-06-10 12:40:26 EDT, MWEDEL@gslan.offsys.uoknor.edu
>(Dictator-for-life Calvin) writes:
>
>> >some sort of beak on _Tyrannosaurus_ is not *completely*
>>  >unreasonable.
>>
>>  Hmm . . . it seems pretty unreasonable to me,
>
>Well, I certainly didn't mean a bird- or turtle-type beak.  The sort of beak
>I was referring to would be (at most) a horny covering on the premaxilla, as
>Greg Paul illustrates on other "protobirds".  I agree, certainly, that the
>maxillae (and for all I know, the premaxillae, too) supported flexible lips.
>
>Nick Pharris

Why would a T-rex even need lips?  They had no carnassial teeth, did they?
Nor did they have any lateral motion capability in their jaws for chewing?
So why wouldn't they just rip off a hunk of flesh and bolt the food down,
and not worry about keeping it in their mouths while they ate?

bruce



        "Dammit, Philbert; what kind of a lepidopterist are you?  For god's 
sake,
man; stand up to them!"