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T. Rex Tooth Embedded in Edmontosaurus Skull Points to Face-to-Face Bite

A new PeerJ study used CT imaging to match the tooth to Tyrannosaurus, yielding rare behavioral evidence with no signs of healing.

Overview

  • The research, led by the University of Alberta with the Museum of the Rockies, was published this week in PeerJ.
  • CT scans conducted at Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital and comparative morphology linked the embedded tooth to Tyrannosaurus.
  • The wound shows no healing, leaving open whether the Edmontosaurus died from the bite or was scavenged shortly after death.
  • The tooth’s position in the nose and its breakage indicate a forceful, face-to-face interaction consistent with predation or postmortem feeding.
  • The nearly complete skull was discovered in 2005 in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation on BLM-managed land and is now on display at the Museum of the Rockies.