so recently there have been talks of some undescribed well preserved Allosaurus jimmadseni fossils that have preserved soft tissues including its lips! Brian Engh (yes I know) got access to these fossils and made a statue bust of Allosaurus, it’s about as ugly as you’d expect and filled with Enghisms like a literal toupee but that’s not important, what is important is the facial tissue he based off of the actual fossil. Pic related is cropped for the sake of keeping thread on topic but as you can see the lips have pits for the upper teeth to slot into.
those pits if legit are very interesting because it provides a nice clean surprisingly simple answer to a question both sides of the debate asked which is>pro lip: the jaws couldn’t have closed that tight because the lips would be sliced up>anti lip: the jaws could close that tight and that’s means no lips because they would be sliced up>real answer: the jaws could close that tight and the animals were slicing up their lips and not caring about itfeels kinda silly that nobody considered that since the only toothed Archosaurs alive today punch holes into their own skulls and Theropods historically have been preserved with evidence of healing from hideous injuries proving they are very hardy creatures. however a true answer remains to be seen until those fossils get described.
>>5151002Wouldn't those be a hotbed for germs
>>5151005modern day crocodile monitors regularly cut the shit out of their own gums and dont give a shit either. >>5151074You'd think so but it rarely seems to be an issue. if anything you hear about stomatitis more in smaller reptiles, especially insectivores and herbivores. I guess they need to crunch down more on their food, since monitors usually just use their teeth to hold things while they tear chunks off, if they can't gulp it down whole.
>>5151002>Brain Engh made that modelWell that explains why it is so ugly. Very interesting stuff regardless
Full model for those interested
>>5151096It’s ugly but honestly not that bad by Engh standards
>>5151074I mean a lot of lizards and snakes have their teeth completely sheathed by their gums and it doesn’t seem to pose an issue with bacteria getting inside so I doubt these would
>>5151002>Pic related is cropped for the sake of keeping thread on topicAre there feathers?
>>5151288>>5151096
>>5151096I understand that Engh being Engh is why we have the silly hairdo and awful color scheme but why they fuck did he make its eyes so huge, they're like twice the size they should be.
>>5151568
>>5151002Brian Engh is based and you're cringe
>>5151096
>>5151096give it lips, give it feathers, give it whatever you wantbut allosaurus without red crests just feels wrong
>>5151002Paleoschizo will never recover from this
