Gigantic Megalosauroid and Allosauroid Dinosaurs Had Weak Bites, Study Suggests

While tyrannosaurid dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex According to an analysis and gigantic allosauroids, the other gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs such as megalosauroids and allosauroids had much lower bites and specialize in the drop in flesh and heartbreaking flesh.

Tyrannosaurus rexSpecimen Holotype at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, the United States. Image credit: Scott Robert Anselmo / CC by-SA 3.0.

“Carnivorous dinosaurs have taken very different paths as they play in giants in terms of food biomechanics and possible behaviors,” said Dr. Andrew Rowe, paleontologist at the University of Bristol.

“Tyrannosaurs have evolved skulls built for strength and crushing bites, while other lines had relatively lower but more specialized skulls, suggesting a diversity of food strategies even with massive sizes.”

“In other words, there was not a“ better ”skull design to be a giant predator; Several designs worked perfectly well. ”

Dr. Rowe and his colleague, Dr. Emily Rayfield, wanted to know how biomechanical and bipedalism feeding techniques influenced biomechanics and food.

We previously knew that despite the achievement of similar sizes, predatory dinosaurs have evolved in very different parts of the world at different times and had very different forms of skull.

These facts raised questions about the question of whether their skulls were functionally similar below the surface or if there were notable differences in their predatory lifestyles.

To examine the relationship between body size and skull biomechanics, the authors used 3D technologies, including CT scrubs and surface analyzes, analyze skull mechanics, quantify food performance and measure bite strength through 18 species of therapy, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs going from little to giant.

Although they expected certain differences between species, they were surprised when their analyzes showed a clear biomechanical divergence.

“Tyrannosaurides like Tyrannosaurus rexhad optimized skulls for high bite forces at higher skull stress, “said Dr. Rowe.

“But in some other giants, such as GiganotosaurusWe have calculated the constraint models suggesting a relatively lighter bite. »»

“He explained at home how evolution can produce multiple solutions to life as a large carnivorous two -way.”

The stress of the skull has not shown an increased scheme with size. Some smaller theraples have undergone greater stress than certain larger species due to the increase in muscle volume and bite forces.

The results show that being a predator two does not always equal a giant crushing bones.

Contrary to Tyrannosaurus rex Certain dinosaurs, including spinosaurs and allosaurs, have become giants while retaining lower bites more suitable for prey and flesh.

“I tend to compareAllosaurusTo a modern komodo dragon in terms of food style, “said Dr. Rowe.

“The great skulls of Tyrannosaurus were rather optimized as modern crocodiles with high bite forces that crushed prey.”

“This biomechanical diversity suggests that dinosaurs’ ecosystems have supported a wider range of giant carnivorous ecologies that we often assume, with less competition and more specialization.”

The study appears this week in the journalCurrent biology.

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Andre J. Rowe and Emily J. Rayfield. 2025. Carnivorous dinosaurs’ lines adopt different skull performance at the gigantic size.Current biology35 (15): 3664-3673; DOI: 10.1016 / J.Cub.2025.06.051