Skull and life reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex with original eye socket and eye (left) and hypothetical reconstruction with circular eye socket and enlarged eye (right). .
Skull and life reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex with original eye socket and eye ( left ) and hypothetical reconstruction with circular eye socket and enlarged eye ( right ). Large dinosaur predators, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, evolved different shapes of eye sockets to better deal with high bite forces, new research has shown. While in many animals - and most dinosaurs - the eye socket is just a circular hole in the skull housing the eyeball, this is very different in large carnivores. In a new study, published today in researchers at the University of Birmingham reveal how the unusual elliptical, or oval eye sockets found in the skulls of these predators, could have evolved to help the skull absorb impact as they pounced on prey. Dr Stephan Lautenschlager, Senior Lecturer for Palaeobiology at the University of Birmingham and author of the new study, analysed the shape of the eye sockets of ca. 500 different dinosaurs and related species. "The results show that only some dinosaurs had eye sockets that were elliptical or keyhole-shaped", said Dr Stephan Lautenschlager. "However, all of those were large, carnivorous dinosaurs with skull lengths of 1 m'or more." Using computer simulations and stress analysis, Dr Lautenschlager tested what purpose these unusual eye socket shapes could have.
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