Rowe Andre J, Rayfield Emily J
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
iScience. 2024 Aug 5;27(9):110679. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110679. eCollection 2024 Sep 20.
Tyrannosauroids are a clade of theropod dinosaur taxa that varied greatly in their body size distribution. We investigated the feeding performance of six tyrannosaur genera of variable body size and skull morphology. We used 3D finite element analysis to test whether skull shape becomes more or less resistant to feeding-induced forces. Cranial and mandibular models were scaled by adult 's surface area to analyze the influence of shape on skull function. It was found that experienced higher absolute stresses compared to small-bodied relatives. When surface area values were equalized across genera to account for the effect of size and test efficiency of skull shape, smaller individuals experience notably greater stresses than larger relatives due to the robust cranial osteology characterized in the allometry of tyrannosaurids. These results may indicate that the wide crania of tyrannosaurids convey a functional advantage that basal tyrannosauroids, juvenile tyrannosauroids, and alioramins lacked.
暴龙类是兽脚亚目恐龙类群，其体型分布差异很大。我们研究了六个体型和头骨形态各异的暴龙属的进食性能。我们使用三维有限元分析来测试头骨形状对进食引起的力的抵抗力是增强还是减弱。颅骨和下颌模型按成年个体的表面积进行缩放，以分析形状对头骨功能的影响。结果发现，与体型较小的近亲相比，（某些暴龙属）承受的绝对应力更高。当各属的表面积值相等以考虑体型的影响并测试头骨形状的效率时，由于暴龙科个体发育中颅骨骨骼粗壮的特点，体型较小的个体比体型较大的近亲承受的应力明显更大。这些结果可能表明，暴龙科宽阔的颅骨具有一种功能优势，而基础暴龙类、幼年暴龙类和阿利奥拉龙类则缺乏这种优势。
