Re: Carnotaurus

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> >>I imagine Carnotaurus hunted in much the same way T.Rex did, having a
> >> >similar body structure (generally) to the king.  Large jaws, small
>arms,
> >>powerful legs.  It's killing power was in its mouth.
> >
> >I was always under the impression that despite having a massive maxilla,
the
> >mandible of _Carnotaurus_ was actually quite slender and fairly weak.
The
> >way I see it, _C. sastrei_ was one big and flashy theropod, but didn't
have
> >an overly powerful bite.  Can anyone please clarify the matter?
>
> I am not a dinosaur specialist, so this is just a thought: while agreeing
> with both issues, I wonder if the rather short and deep snout along with a
> weak lower jaw may  point to a different hunting/biting adaptation with
> respect to large theropods with longer snouts. AFAIK short faced predators
> have stout mandibles (bulldog :-) ); does anyone know about some short
> faced but slender jawed predator?

Sounds a lot like *Allosaurus*, which had quite a weak bite and lower jaw
but a skull that could have resisted short of everything. *Allosaurus* is
considered to have run at the prey at full speed with widely open jaws, torn
some horrible wounds into its prey by retracting its head and waited till
the prey collapsed.