Bite-force estimation for Tyrannosaurus rex from tooth-marked bones

@article{Erickson1996BiteforceEF,
  title={Bite-force estimation for Tyrannosaurus rex from tooth-marked bones},
  author={Gregory M. Erickson and Samuel D. Van Kirk and Jinntung Su and Marc E. Levenston and W. E. Caler and Dennis R. Carter},
  journal={Nature},
  year={1996},
  volume={382},
  pages={706-708}
}
WHETHER tyrannosaurs occupied predatory or scavenging niches has been debated for nearly a century1–5. Palaeontologists have turned to the study of dental morphology to address this question, but the results have been highly disparate. Some contend that the tyrannosaur dentition was very strong and well suited for engaging and killing herbivorous dinosaurs6,7. Others posit that tyrannosaurs ate carrion, because their teeth and/or jaws would fail during struggles with prey2,3. The discovery of… 
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Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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Results Citations
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142 Citations

Bite force estimates in juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex based on simulated puncture marks

TLDR
Bite force estimates for a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex based on mechanical tests designed to replicate bite marks previously attributed to a T. rex of approximately 13 years old are presented and the implications for feeding mechanisms, feeding behaviors, and ontogenetic niche partitioning are discussed.

THE CRUSHING BITE OF TYRANNOSAURIDS

TLDR
The intramandibular jaw joint is described and the first completely preserved and fused supradentary/coronoid bones in three different tyrannosaurids are found, leading to a rigid lower jaw in tyrannosaurusids that is a secondary specialization for a powerful crushing bite.

A Description of Deinonychus antirrhopus Bite Marks and Estimates of Bite Force using Tooth Indentation Simulations

ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a specimen of Tenontosaurus tilletti from the Cloverly Formation that bears lesions we interpret as bite marks of Deinonychus antirrhopus. Some of the bite marks…

The Biomechanics Behind Extreme Osteophagy in Tyrannosaurus rex

TLDR
It is shown that bone pulverization was made possible through a combination of prodigious bite forces and tooth pressures promoting crack propagation in bones, and repetitive, localized biting, which allowed T. rex to finely fragment bones and more fully exploit large dinosaur carcasses for sustenance relative to competing carnivores.

Bone-Breaking Bite Force of Basilosaurus isis (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Late Eocene of Egypt Estimated by Finite Element Analysis

TLDR
Bite marks suggest that the late Eocence archaeocete whale Basilosaurus isis fed upon juveniles of the contemporary basilosaurid Dorudon atrox, and the whale’s bite forces match those estimated for pliosaurus when skull lengths are equalized, suggesting similar tradeoffs of bite function and hydrodynamics.

A tyrannosaur jaw bitten by a confamilial: scavenging or fatal agonism?

TLDR
This specimen provides the best evidence for aggressive peri- or post-mortem confamilial interaction among tyrannosaurs and corroborates previous studies based on inferred tooth marks.

Feeding traces attributable to juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex offer insight into ontogenetic dietary trends

TLDR
Comparisons reveal that the tooth marks present on the vertebra closely match the maxillary teeth of a late-stage juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex specimen histologically determined to be 11–12 years of age, demonstrating that late- stage juvenile and subadult tyrannosaurs were already utilizing the same large-bodied food sources as adults despite lacking the bone-crushing abilities of adults.

TYRANNOSAUR CANNIBALISM: A CASE OF A TOOTH-TRACED TYRANNOSAURID BONE IN THE LANCE FORMATION (MAASTRICHTIAN), WYOMING

ABSTRACT A recently discovered tyrannosaurid metatarsal IV (SWAU HRS13997) from the uppermost Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lance Formation is heavily marked with several long grooves on its cortical…

Craniocervical feeding dynamics of Tyrannosaurus rex

TLDR
The results indicate that adult T. rex could strike rapidly at prey and engage in complexly modulated inertial feeding, as seen in extant archosaurs.

Maximum Bite Force and Prey Size of Tyrannosaurus rex and Their Relationships to the Inference of Feeding Behavior

TLDR
This analysis establishes boundary conditions for possible predator/prey relationships among other dinosaurs, as well as between these two taxa, and shows that adult Triceratops horridus fall well within the size range of potential prey that are predicted to be available to a solitary, predaceous T. rex.
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This book should be of interest to teachers, students and researchers in paleontology, biology, evolutionary biology, zoology and cell biology.