206: Rebor Tyrannosaurus "Kiss" Review (and a Bit on Lips)

(Note: I will periodically update this box with posts by knowledgeable viewers you might want to read. My arguments have crudified things into a bare digestible framework only. Unfortunately you'll have to look them up as I don't know how to directly link to them)

For many people, T Rex is probably the most popular dinosaur. And we know so much about it that our reconstructions are now pretty accurate with good confidence. Still we often seem to want to revisit it, such that new ideas are more often quickly tried out on T Rex depictions.

One of these things, which is very controversial, is the presence of lips on theropods. Did T rex have lips, or not? Very often, it’s the one thing deciding whether a collector will get an otherwise excellent model or not. I know collectors who would love to pull the trigger on a model, but didn’t because it didn’t have lips. This is especially frustrating when it’s a dinosaur as iconic as T Rex. So what’s a company to do? What Rebor has done!

Rebor has given us a marvelously sculpted T Rex, but two versions. Not just colour variants this time, but a lipped versus an unlipped version. I’m particularly excited to get a lipped version of a T rex that is updated and beautifully rendered, and here I think Rebor has delivered. But judge for yourself!

In addition, I talk about something that I’ve been putting off sharing for a long time – the lips vs no lips in theropods, which for many people is a very polarizing issue. Hopefully it’s an overview that will spur you to do your own reading into this very fascinating subject.

Addenda:
I have also been fortunate to hear from many educated viewers. Look for the following comments for more nuances beyond my basic intro.

Michelle Wells: on bird lips and the enamel issue

supernova 007: on why the bruxism analogy doesn't really work with theropod anatomy

kalevipoeg: gives his thoughts on size variability possibilities and his considered message supporting his argument. It's well worth a read!


REFERENCES
Read the first three first.

Witton, M.P. “Did tyrannosaurs smile like crocodiles? A discussion of cranial epidermal correlates in tyrannosaurid dinosaurs.” Mark P. Witton’s Blog, 26 Jan 2018, http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20...

Hartman, S. “The lip post.” Dr. Scott Hartman’s Skeletal Drawing.Com, 2 April 2019, https://www.skeletaldrawing.com/home/...

Carr, T., Varricchio, D., Sedlmayr, J. et al. (2017) A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system. Sci Rep 7, 44942 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44942



Bell, P.R., Hencrickx, C. (2020) Crocodile-like sensory scales in a Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur. Correspondence, Current Biology 30 (19) R1068-R1070, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.08...

D’Emic, M. D., O’Connor, P.M., Pascucci, T.R., Gavras, J.N., Mardakhayava, E., Lund, E.K., (2019) Evolution of high tooth replacement rates in theropod dinosaurs. PLoS ONE 14 (11): e0224734. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Ford, T. L., (1997) Did theropods have lizard lips? Southwest Paleontological
Symposium – Proceedings, 1997, p. 65-78.


Milinkovitch M.C., Manukyan L., Debry A., Di-Poï N., Martin S., Singh D., Lambert D., Zwicker M. (2013) Crocodile head scales are not developmental units but emerge from physical cracking. Science. Jan 4;339(6115):78-81. doi: 10.1126/science.1226265. Epub 2012 Nov 29. PMID: 23196908.

Morhardt, A., (2009). Dinosaur smiles: Do the texture and morphology of the premaxilla, maxilla, and dentary bones of sauropsids provide osteological correlates for inferring extra-oral structures reliably in dinosaurs? (Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master's thesis). Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, USA.


Prado, J.L., Alberdi, M.T. (2008) A Cladistic Analysis among Trilophodont gomphotheres (Mammalia, Proboscidea) with special attention to the South American genera. Palaeontology, 51 (4) https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2...

Reisz, R. R. & Larson, D. (2016) Dental anatomy and skull length to tooth size rations support the hypothesis that theropod dinosaurs had lips. 2016 Canadian Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Conference Abstracts, 64-65.

Sellers, K., Schmiegelow, A., Holliday, C.M., (2019) The significance of enamel thickness in the teeth of Alligator mississippiensis and its diversity among crocodyliforms: Enamel thickness in crocodyliforms, Journal of Zoology, 309 (143) https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12707

Zheng, J. & Li, Yangrui & Shi, M.Y. & Zhang, yf & Qian, Linmao & Zhou, Z.R.. (2013). Microtribological behaviour of human tooth enamel and artificial hydroxyapatite. Tribology International. 63. 177–185. 10.1016/j.triboint.2012.04.019.




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