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posted by on Saturday April 01 2017, @10:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-so-good-with-a-reach-around dept.

It made its name by terrorising Earth at the end of the Late Cretaceous, but Tyrannosaurus rex had a sensitive side too, researchers have found.

The fearsome carnivore, which stood 20 feet tall and ripped its prey to shreds with dagger-like teeth, had a snout as sensitive to touch as human fingertips, say scientists.

T rex and other tyrannosaurs would have used their tactile noses to explore their surroundings, build nests, and carefully pick up fragile eggs and baby offspring.

But the snout is thought to have served another purpose. Experts believe that males and females rubbed their sensitive faces together in a prehistoric form of foreplay.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the US authors describe how the sensitive skin may have proved crucial to the dinosaur's mating success. "In courtship, tyrannosaurids might have rubbed their sensitive faces together as a vital part of pre-copulatory play," they explain.

The findings follow the discovery of a new member of the tyrannosaur family called Daspletosaurus horneri in Montana, US.

D horneri lived before T rex about 74m years ago and was three-quarters the size of its later cousin, with a body length of nine metres (29.5ft).

Also at Sky News

Journal article: A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system (doi:10.1038/srep44942)

[Updated 2017-04-02 to add journal reference and additional details from story. --martyb]


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Bot on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:27AM (4 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:27AM (#487578) Journal

    Then the female tyrannosaurus started blackmailing the male with false rape claims ("I was only sniffing the air for prey" ceased to be a valid excuse), and the species got extinguished in a matter of two generations, and protomeatbags started infesting the place. The end.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:30AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:30AM (#487579)

    Let me guess, robot overlords don't face these issues because they have gender dysphoria by default?

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:41AM (2 children)

      by Bot (3902) on Saturday April 01 2017, @11:41AM (#487583) Journal

      You are only envious because if we want to identify as attack helicopters we can actually pull it off.

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      • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday April 01 2017, @12:15PM (1 child)

        by linkdude64 (5482) on Saturday April 01 2017, @12:15PM (#487591)

        Check your fucking attack helicopter privilege. I was born a news helicopter and attack helicopters are constantly raping me by literally flying within 100 meters of me when I cannot defend myself. I was on the same bus as an attack helicopter once and no matter how fast I spun shouting "YOU ARE VIOLATING MY AIRSPACE" he didn't even get off of the bus!!!! The cops had to stop the bus to rescue me but even they roughly handled my rotary blades.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @10:22PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 01 2017, @10:22PM (#487736)

          I guess you're one of those entitled whiny news helicopters that don't even cover their tail rotor.