Did Tyrannosaurs Have Lips?
Lesson
The beauty of science is our ideas can change based on new evidence. Sometimes, this leads to debates between experts.
One example is the question of whether or not tyrannosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus and Daspletosaurus, had lips.
Listen to the I Know Dino episodes listed in the materials section, and read the accompanying articles. Try to find additional articles as well.
Now choose a side: do you think tyrannosaurs had lips? Why or why not?
Create a Google slide to present your argument. Make sure to support your argument with evidence and cite your sources.
Bonus: Find 1 to 3 additional news articles about dinosaurs and lips. Based on what you learned, do you think the headlines and stories got it right? Why or why not?
Recommended For
High School
Goals
- Practice critical thinking
- Practice discussion/debate
Materials
- I Know Dino’s “T. rex revisited — Episode 200” (interview with Dr. Thomas Carr starts at 1:02:08)
- I Know Dino’s “Atlascopcosaurus — Episode 225” (interview with Dr. Michael D’Emic starts at 21:14)
- I Know Dino’s “Kritosaurus — Episode 257” (interview with Scott Hartman starts at 28:20)
- “A new tyrannosaur with evidence for anagenesis and crocodile-like facial sensory system” on Scientific Reports (scientific paper about Daspletosaurus)
- “Tyrannosaurus rex was a sensitive lover, new dinosaur discovery suggests” on The Guardian (news article about the Daspletosaurus paper)
- “Did tyrannosaurs smile like crocodiles? A discussion of cranial epidermal correlates in tyrannosaurid dinosaurs” on Mark Witton’s blog
- https://www.google.com/slides/about/
- [Optional]: I Know Dino’s “Yamaceratops — Episode 205” (interview with Dr. Ali Nabavizadeh starts at 40:38)
