Re: Tyrannosaurus had most powerful bite of any land animal (free pdf!)

[Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com


Note that the pdf can be downloaded for free at:


http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/02/25/rsbl.2012.0056.full.pdf+html

The data supplement is also free.

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K. T. Bates and P. L. Falkingham (2012)
Estimating maximum bite performance in Tyrannosaurus rex using
multi-body dynamics.
Biology Letters (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0056
http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/02/25/rsbl.2012.0056.short?rss=1


Bite mechanics and feeding behaviour in Tyrannosaurus rex are
controversial. Some contend that a modest bite mechanically limited T.
rex to scavenging, while others argue that high bite forces
facilitated a predatory mode of life. We use dynamic musculoskeletal
models to simulate maximal biting in T. rex. Models predict that adult
T. rex generated sustained bite forces of 35 000–57 000 N at a single
posterior tooth, by far the highest bite forces estimated for any
terrestrial animal. Scaling analyses suggest that adult T. rex had a
strong bite for its body size, and that bite performance increased
allometrically during ontogeny. Positive allometry in bite performance
during growth may have facilitated an ontogenetic change in feeding
behaviour in T. rex, associated with an expansion of prey range in
adults to include the largest contemporaneous animals.