The iconic T. rex and raptor may have looked a little less sinister.

A paper 乌鸦传媒� co-authored by Derek Larson, a member of Victoria乌鸦传媒檚 Royal B.C. Museum乌鸦传媒檚 paleontology department, and a team of international paleontologists 乌鸦传媒� proposed the dinosaurs may not have been the ferocious-looking, teeth-baring creatures we think they were.

Results from their work suggest theropods, like the Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptor, may not have had exposed teeth when their mouths were closed but instead had a fleshy covering 乌鸦传媒� similar to lips and not unlike those of modern-day lizards.

乌鸦传媒淔or a long time, researchers have suggested that theropod dinosaurs had exposed teeth 乌鸦传媒� like we see with crocodiles 乌鸦传媒� and this has become the pervasive depiction of predatory dinosaurs in films and documentaries,乌鸦传媒� said Larson, paleontolgy collections manager and researcher at RBCM, in a statement. 乌鸦传媒淥ur study overturns that idea and seriously brings into question how we reconstruct what certain dinosaurs look like.乌鸦传媒�

Larson, with his co-authors, looked to modern examples of lip and tooth structures and from examples like the Komodo dragon, researchers determined the exposed teeth of crocodiles are unique to that group. Covered teeth are more typical and researchers determined more probable in extinct animals.

Auburn University乌鸦传媒檚 Thomas Cullen, the lead author of the study, said in the same statement, 乌鸦传媒渆ven the giant teeth of tyrannosaurs are proportionately similar in size to those of living predatory lizards, rejecting the idea that their teeth were too big to cover with lips.乌鸦传媒�

While not indicated in the paper, the researchers acknowledged the fleshy tooth coverings they presume would not be akin to the muscular, mobile lips humans have. They also noted while other extinct animals, like various tusked mammals or flying or marine reptiles, almost certainly had exposed teeth 乌鸦传媒� they do not believe the T. rex and other predatory dinosaurs did.

乌鸦传媒淎ccurately reconstructing an extinct animal has huge implications for inferring the behaviour, diet, and evolution of these organisms,乌鸦传媒� Larson noted.

Given dinosaurs乌鸦传媒� closest modern genetic relatives 乌鸦传媒� crocodiles and birds 乌鸦传媒� are also lipless, Larson said it乌鸦传媒檚 not surprising these depictions have become prevalent. 乌鸦传媒淧aleontologists often like to compare extinct animals to their closest living relatives, but in the case of dinosaurs, their closest relatives have been evolutionarily distinct for hundreds of millions of years and today are incredibly specialized. Many of the similarities that they once shared with dinosaurs are long gone.乌鸦传媒�

One specimen examined in the study was the Field Museum of National History T. rex nicknamed Sue. Sue乌鸦传媒檚 jaws and teeth will be on display at RBCM starting June 16.

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