T. rex Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue

October 12, 2018

Dinosaurs in reconstructions are often shown with tongues wildly waving — a feature that is incorrect, according to new research conducted by The University of Texas at Austin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Spencer Wright.

T. rex may have been a highly successful predator, but it would have been terrible at licking stamps, lollipops or popsicles, thanks to a tongue that was likely fixed to the bottom of its mouth.

A new study calls into question artists’ renditions of T. rex and other dinosaurs that show them with their tongues protruding from gaping jaws—a pose that is commonly seen in modern lizards. But even though lizards are tops at tongue waving, dinosaurs probably couldn’t stick out their tongues, researchers recently discovered.

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EarthSky, July 6, 2018

National Geographic, June 20, 2018

The Guardian, June 20, 2018

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Popular Science, June 25, 2018

Inverse, June 20, 2018

Cnet, June 20, 2018

History, June 20, 2018

Gizmodo, June 20, 2018

Irish Examiner, June 20, 2018