https://news.utexas.edu/2018/06/20/t-rex-couldn-t-stick-out-its-tongue:
Dinosaurs are often depicted as fierce creatures, baring their teeth, with tongues wildly stretching from their mouths like giant, deranged lizards. But new research reveals a major problem with this classic image: Dinosaurs couldn't stick out their tongues like lizards. Instead, their tongues were probably rooted to the bottoms of their mouths in a manner akin to alligators.
Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences made the discovery by comparing the hyoid bones — the bones that support and ground the tongue — of modern birds and crocodiles with those of their extinct dinosaur relatives. In addition to challenging depictions of dino tongues, the research proposes a connection on the origin of flight and an increase in tongue diversity and mobility.
The research was published June 20 in the journal PLOS ONE.
The comparison process involved taking high-resolution images of hyoid muscles and bones from 15 modern specimens, including three alligators and 13 bird species as diverse as ostriches and ducks, at the Jackson School’s High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography Facility (UTCT). The fossil specimens, most from northeastern China, were scrutinized for preservation of the delicate tongue bones and included small bird-like dinosaurs, as well as pterosaurs and a Tyrannosaurus rex.
The results indicate that hyoid bones of most dinosaurs were like those of alligators and crocodiles — short, simple and connected to a tongue that was not very mobile. Co-author and Jackson School Professor Julia Clarke said that these findings mean that dramatic reconstructions that show dinosaurs with tongues stretching out from between their jaws are wrong.
[...] The study was funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, the Smithsonian Institution and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Journal Reference:
- Zhiheng Li, Zhonghe Zhou, Julia A. Clarke. Convergent evolution of a mobile bony tongue in flighted dinosaurs and pterosaurs. PLOS ONE, 2018; 13 (6): e0198078 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198078
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by acid andy on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:10PM (1 child)
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Lameness filter encountered: GRARRRGHHHH-RAWWWR-GRRRRR-RRRRRR-RR SNARL GRRR!!!
Your comment violated the "postercomment" compression filter. Try less whitespace and/or less repetition. GRRRROWWRR THUMP THUMP THUMP GRRRRRRR!!
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:13PM
Ritalin run out?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @06:15PM (5 children)
None of the first fifty images from searching "trex" on bing show its tongue out of its mouth.
None of the first fifty images from searching "Raptor Dinosaur"* on bing show its tongue out of its mouth.
Did somebody literally just make up a sterotype so they can pretend its been disproven, or am I unlucky in my searches?
*The second term I tried, after "raptor" just returned cars.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @08:08PM (1 child)
Soon you'll have stories about how water is wet and that Trump is actually great.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @08:27PM
AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
-Kipling
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 15 2018, @08:16PM (2 children)
Ditto. Page after page of images for "tyrannosaurus", and not one tongue hanging out. That goes for more scientific images, as well as cartoon images. The most prominent tongues look like dog's tongues, but none protrude past the teeth. Most images that even bother to show a tongue, seem to suggest that the tongue didn't even reach the front teeth - about halfway up the jaw seems to be the standard.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @09:08PM
Of the types of critters mentioned, the only one where I remember seeing a tongue was the Looney Tunes Roadrunner [google.com] (sticking it out at the coyote).
A tricked-out version [google.com] of the Plymouth car model [google.com] which used a logo [google.com] consisting of the cartoon bird had a horn that tried to duplicate the sound used to accompany that gesture found in the animated presentations.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16 2018, @02:42AM
Ive seen an artistic photo of a trexish dino with a slavering tongue out.
Regardless, they are simply reporting new findings not refuting some massively believed error.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @07:06PM
Maybe it's better for some carnivores that regularly eat bigger stronger stuff to have a less mobile more secured tongue that's not as easily bitten/ripped/kicked off by stuff they're trying to eat?
Wonder how the t-rex drinks though: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-herbivores-and-carnivores-drink-water-differently [quora.com]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday July 15 2018, @07:37PM (7 children)
Because he had liddle arms and liddle hands. Something people don't know, only 2 fingers on the hands. I saw that, I went, "what happened to his middle fingers?" No middle fingers! And now they're saying he couldn't stick out his tongue. But, I think he had other ways of getting his message across. Because he had VERY LONG & SHARP nails & VERY LONG & SHARP teeth. Big, beautiful teeth. Incredible teeth!!!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @08:21PM
Are you going to ask Putin for asylum in your private meeting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @09:33PM (3 children)
It's been YEARS since the election. You're still doing this shit? This is your life now?
(Score: 2, Touché) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday July 15 2018, @10:44PM (2 children)
I miss my old life. I had a very nice life -- people don't know how nice it was. And in many ways it was easier. You'd be surprised. I gave up so much when I put America First and went into politics.
A lot of folks think, "oh, we elected Donald J. Trump OVERWHELMINGLY, here come 4 years of WINNING!" It's not that easy. We need more Republicans in Congress. So our bills & nominations can SAIL RIGHT THROUGH. And we need more Republican Governors & legislators. So we can hold the Constitutional Convention. So important. #RepealThe22nd [twitter.com] And last month we had the Primary Elections in Ala., Calif., Iowa, Miss., Mont., N.J., N.M. & S.D. It looks so crooked what they did in California -- almost 120,000 names erased from the voter roles, why? Big story that you would have heard about. Except the Editors didn't like it. Or didn't like my Subs about it. I'll tell you, if you wait until 2020, possibly a DISASTER for our Country. Sign up for my SMS -- my text messages -- very low volume, very respectful. Or the EMAIL if you do EMAIL. So when I'm in your area you'll know about my rallies. Come to the rally, have a tremendous time, get involved!!!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Monday July 16 2018, @05:32PM (1 child)
Ah yes, the OVERWHELMING victory of receiving 3 MILLION fewer votes.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday July 16 2018, @07:59PM
74 more votes in EC where it counts. It would have been closer, Crooked Hillary lost 3 votes to Colin Powell. Think about that one. And believe me, I could have won the Popular Vote very easily -- if those were the rules. They weren't the rules. And they aren't the rules. 2016, I would have run a very different campaign. And very easy for me to win on Popular Vote. Even with the 3 million Illegals voting!
You want to make it Popular Vote for next time, bring it on. I'll be very happy to sign that one. The amendment if you do it with an amendment. You don't need my signature but I'd be very happy to sign. As a witness. Very happy and we can do the ceremony in my office. Because I'm VERY VERY POPULAR. New Poll says Trump, at over 90%, is the most popular Republican in history of the Party. Wow!!!! nationalpopularvote.com/president-trump-reaffirms-his-long-standing-opposition-electoral-college-and-favors-nationwide-vote [nationalpopularvote.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 15 2018, @10:36PM (1 child)
Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide, it's a killer!
He can leap about -- look at the bones!
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday July 15 2018, @11:00PM
Remember when the Swamp Bunny attacked Jimmy Carter? Big part of why folks sent him back to Georgia. But, that one should have gone the other way. He knew how to handle the swamp creatures, so important in Washington!!!
(Score: 3, Informative) by requerdanos on Sunday July 15 2018, @10:32PM (2 children)
I know that this is obvious, but in consideration of future generations and their archaeologists and anthropologists trying to make sense of this story, I would like to point out a few things.
1. Depicting creatures with tongues lolling is generally done to make them appear silly, not fierce. Example: Panting Dog [blogspot.com]
2. Dinosaurs are sometimes depicted as fierce, sometimes as just regular creatures, and sometimes as long-dead skeletons. There is no predominant "fierce" depiction outside fiction, and even there, tongues (not even "wild, stretching" ones) do not generally play a role, their presence being contradictory to fierceness, which would generally be conveyed with teeth, expression, and body language.
3. This introductory sentence is clunky and in general, no one takes it seriously. It is there to set up a strawman ("Man, everyone knows Dinos are really mean and stick out their tongues a lot which is how they are depicted!"). This is pretty much the only source claiming that dinosaurs are fierce because they stick out their tongues and are depicted as such, and it's not a reliable source at that.
4. The conclusion that "Dinosaurs couldn't stick out their tongues" is nonsense, in that only a very few species of "dinosaurs" were studied by the researchers, and nothing like what would be required to make a conclusion about dinosaurs in general.
5. This showmanship via dishonesty was probably done to add "suspense" or "wow factor" or something else not needed nor beneficial to the actual story, which is a ho-hum observation that a few species of dinosaurs investigated happen to appear to have tongues which were attached to the bottoms of their mouths as in modern alligators.
6. A lot of scientific research is tedious and many might consider it potentially boring, but in general it's important, the reward being that our knowledge of the natural world and the surrounding universe is increased. There is not any benefit in lying about the research to deceive people into believing it is more exciting than it is; ever-increasing excitement is not the goal (nor frequently the reward) in scientific inquiry.
Several have pointed out aspects of this, but I did want it on record that the premise of the article appears to be total nonsense. Thank you.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 16 2018, @04:17AM
Youre missing that this is part of a years long effort to deconstruct the Trex stereotype. They cant run fast enough to even catch a human, didnt roar, didnt have lips, looked like a big fat ostrich, and now cant even stick out their tongue if they wanted.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday July 16 2018, @08:09AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 16 2018, @02:42PM
T-Rex is always angry. Why? Because it has tiny upper arms and hands making it impossible to masturbate.
Oh, wait! Maybe that explains something about Trump?
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.